UNDEFEATED for over three years, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu broke the veneer of invincibility of defending champion Don Bosco Technological Center with a 1-0 upset in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. finals yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Center.
DBTC won the title for the past three years, going undefeated in that run, including three wins against the Magis Eagles in the previous three finals.
But yesterday was a different story.
Despite having much of the possession, the DBTC offense that tallied 19 goals in their previous five matches failed to crack a gutsy Ateneo defense. A counter attack in the 53rd minute found a streaking Leo Maquiling, who danced his way past two defenders before beating the DBTC keeper for the stunning goal.
It was the first time that DBTC trailed this season and it was a deficit the Greywolves couldn’t recover from as the Eagles played defensively in the final minutes.
“Possession-wise, it was 60-40 for Don Bosco and they had more attacks compared to us. In the final five minutes, coach just pulled the player back while Don Bosco was pushing,” said SHS-Ateneo de Cebu athletic director Rico Navarro.
Maquiling was named MVP of the tournament, while Ateneo’s Paolo Montesclaros and Jack Sembrano won the best defender and best keeper awards.
In the battle for third place, Ivan Ouano showed up with his golden boot, picking up a hat trick in a five-minute span, while Luis Aguilar had two in the University of Southern Philippines Foundation’s 5-1 win over the University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department.
Ouano struck first in the 33rd and banged in two more in the 35th and 38 minutes for a 3-0 lead. Aguilar got his in the 48th and scored his 10th goal for the season in the 50th. Antonio Alazas scored the consolation goal for USC in the 74th.
Aguilar’s two-goal romp yesterday also earned the USPF striker the top scorer award this season.
Meanwhile, in the college division, the University of San Jose-Recoletos revived its chances for the title after beating the University of the Visayas, 2-1, while USPF played the University of Cebu to a scoreless draw.
USPF still leads at 10 points, while idle USC, UC and USJ-R all have eight points. UV is last at seven points.
At this stage, the competition is still so close and all five teams are fighting to finish in the top two and advance to the finals.
The Nos. 3 and 4 fight for third place.