Contrasting wins
USC-BED blanks SHS-Hijas 2-0; DBTC wins shootout vs. Springdale to keep City Olympics crown
DON Bosco Technological Center won its second straight crown over rival Paref-Springdale via shootout, while the University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department finally won its first football title in the Cebu City Olympics yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Center.
In the morning final, USCBED got its first crown after three tries with a 2-0 win over Sacred Heart School-Hijas.
It was sweet revenge for USC, which lost to Hijas in the elimination round and lost to DBTC twice in its first two finals appearance.
Yesterday, USC made sure it would be a different outcome as it took the initiative early and controlled the pace. A lucky bounce in the fourth minute also got them ahead of a stunned Hijas defense.
Rafael Bernardo sent the ball forward but it took a lucky bounce and sailed over the approaching Hijas keeper for a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
A minute later, Hijas could have made an equalizer when they earned a penalty, but the resulting spot-kick hit the bar instead.
USC keeper John Michael Candongo also helped keep the lead as he kept beating the Hijas strikers to the ball, getting a clearance outside the box before they could get a touch.
In the 25th, a missed clearance by Hijas found Carl Vincent Polizon with only the keeper to beat and he didn’t miss from six yards to put USC-BED up, 2-0, at half-time.
In the second half, Hijas got a couple of great chances but the best it could manage was another kiss on the bar in the 34th, while USC-BED kept its poise on defense to seal the win.
“Labaw na man mi, so defensive na lang ko,” coach Edwin Arganza said after the game.
In the high school finals, a perfectly-timed dive by Joseph Kei Ceniza saved the day for DBTC in a closely-contested final against fellow Cebu City powerhouse Paref-Springdale.
Ceniza made a very important deflection to give DBTC a 5-3 (1-1) penalty shootout victory over Springdale.
“I told JK to commit on one side,” said DBTC head coach Glen Ramos after winning backto-back Cebu City Olympics secondary division titles.
After conceding to the first three attempts of Springdale, Ceniza followed Ramos’ advice and threw his body to his right and deflected the low- flying strike of Jon Joseph Young.
With the save, the victory all hinged on DBTC final kicker Agustin Roa. He hesitated at first and was slapped with a yellow card by referee Michael Culibra but the infractation didn’t matter as Roa powerfully struck the ball past Springdale goalkeeper Gabriel Villacin that bounced on the left post and into the back of the net.
First goal
“He ( Roa) was just pressured but that was the right call to give him just a yellow card. If he did it again then that would the time that the referee would give him a red card,” said Ramos.
DBTC drew first blood with a goal by Mark Unabia in the 19th minute but it was quickly tied by Sabin Veloso with a goal two minutes later.
Both teams had scoring opportunites but somehow that decider wouldn’t go inside the goal. With just seconds remaining in the second half, Miguel Mercader hit a header from a corner kick by Glen Thomas Ramos but it was deflected by Villacin.
DBTC had perfect scoring chances in extra time via a header by Roa, a chip shot by Jon Joseph Rena that went wide and a volley by Roa that was caught by Villacin.
On the other hand, Kurt Cuizon scored a hat-trick to lead Abellena National School (ANS) past University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF), 4-0, in the battle-forthird match.
Russel Mapa hit the opening goal in the 17th minute, followed by three goals by Cuizon in the 25th, 30th and 55th minutes. ML/With EKA