THE University of San Carlos Warriors survived the University of Cebu Webmasters, 1-0, thanks to some timely saves by Terrence Colmenares, a few lucky breaks and the misfiring UC strikers to keep their hold of the top spot in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. football tournament at the Cebu City Sports Center.
USC, which also beat UC 1-0 in the first round, kept its no. 1 spot after improving to 10 points on three wins and a draw, while UC only has two points in four games after back-to-back losses.
After playing on the defensive early, UC took the initiative against USC in the middle of the first half, only to be foiled by some unlucky breaks.
Colmenares was forced to get out of the box to stop a shot, and before UC could take on the rebound, the USC defense managed to get in place to prevent UC from scoring.
Minutes later, Colmenares misjudged the bounce of a looping freekick and the ball bounced over his head but went wide. UC got another chance after Joseph Villalon connected with Joseph Limana inside the box but his lob was too high.
USC could have also gotten the lead off a corner with a lovely floating header by Jose Alicaya. However, keeper Aaron Salise managed to tap it to the bar. The ball bounced off the bar and to the six-yard box and instead of a simple tap-in to an open goal, Steven Patalinghug wasted the opportunity when he blasted it high.
But in the second half, Pyke Tinoy made sure his efforct counted as USC took advantage of a sleeping UC defense for the lone goal of the match just two minutes after the break.
UC had numerous chances to equalize in the game but their shots somehow went straight to Colmenares and on two occassions, they managed an attempt in front of goal but both were too soft to threaten USC.
Vic Jason Felicilda also had a hat trick of missed chances, while Villalon’s perfect run got him free of his defender but his lob was just too high and UC suffered its second straight loss after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to the University of San Jose-Recoletos. (ML)