A day after his 24th birthday, Leo Maquiling kept his nerves in check to lead Ateneo de Manila University in its 3-1 victory over University of the East in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Football Tournament on Sunday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
Maquiling, who came from Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu, converted two penalty kicks in the 18th and 41st minutes after the Blue Eagles initially conceded first early in the contest.
“I’m happy that I finally scored this season,” said the BS Management student. “At least we won our last game in the first round. There are a lot of improvements to be made but a goal is a goal. I’m happy I was able to score those goals.”
The Blue Eagles enjoyed further luck in front of the goal as a mishap by the Red Warriors’ defense forced defender Mark Maghinay to put the ball into his net in the 45+2 minute.
In the second half, the Red Warriors could have trimmed the two-goal deficit but Blue Eagles goalkeeper Artuz Cezar denied Jerome Abarca and Mark Joshua Sedeng’s headers.
Behind a first-round sweep, Ateneo finished top of the standings with 18 points and a goal difference of plus-12.
“We’re happy that we won all of the games in the first round,” said Coach JP Merida. “But on the flip side, I’m not really happy with this performance because we started slow. I think the good thing there was we got two penalties plus one own goal in the first half. In the second half, we didn’t capitalize on our chances, and we need to improve on that coming into the second round.”
On the other hand, UE remained in sixth place at the end of round one with seven points and a minus-5 GD.
