Monday, February 12, 2007 Team Cebu City survives USC, 3-2 By Mike Limpag Sun.Star Staff Reporter
TEAM Cebu City bucked a one-goal deficit to beat the reigning collegiate champion University of San Carlos, 3-2, in the Aboitiz Division B at the San Roque Parish grounds.
Team Cebu City, a collection of the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association bound high school players plus a few of Cebu’s Under-19 players, refused to buckle under the USC pressure.
USC, which won its inaugural Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. title last year, took the initiative early, with Pomploso Atillo hitting the bar in the first minute, before Kyle Soriano banged in the first goal in the sixth.
However, Team Cebu City recovered with Jerson Omnos banging in Rodel Saranillo’s free kick in the eighth for the equalizer and scoring the go-ahead in the 11th off a pass from Blui Arriola.
More pressure
Still USC pressed on and Jacob Cañada again hit the bar in the 15th, while Paolo Pascual tapped out a shot in the 20th.
Then in the 22nd, things turned ugly for USC after referee Randy Estremos sent out Hubert Buot in the 22nd and two minutes later, Omnos capped his performance as he stripped a defender and lobbed the ball past the keeper for the third goal of the game.
Cañada finally got past Pascual as he banged in a rebound in the 38th for a 3-2 score.
However, things got worse for USC in the second half as Cañada got injured in a collision, while Team Cebu City put in fresher legs to maintain their advantage.
Patch-up
Meanwhile, the game was delayed for more than 30 minutes as match commissioner Sherwin Rodriguez had to find the man in charge of fixing the net at goal, which already had a huge hole.
“I’ve already requested for new nets,” said Rodriguez.
In the other games yesterday, the Cebu Amateur Football Club defeated Cebu State College of Science and Technology, 3-1, with Peter Bordador scoring twice; Metropolitan FC blanked University of the Philippines Alumni, 4-0; and Men’s Uptown defeated FC Inter-Lapu-Lapu.
The Aboitiz Division B will resume on Feb. 25 to give way to the Thirst Cup. In the next round of matches, UP Alumni will face Ramos FC, FCI Lapu-Lapu will take on Cebu International School, TCC will face FC Inter Cebu and CSCST will face Cebu Institute of Technology.
