Southridge completes Final Four cast
GUEST team Southridge held on valiantly, earning a 1-1 draw against 10-man Ateneo to complete the Final Four cast of the UAAP high school boys football tournament Saturday at the UP Football Stadium.
Francis Poticano gave the Admirals the biggest goal of their seasone foot with a fantastic finish in the 42nd minute.
The Blue Eagles equalized with a John Molina header in the 74th minute, but the Muntinlupa-based side won’t be denied in completing a date with history.
Behind an impressive second round showing that saw it go unbeaten for the last four matches, Southridge joined defending champion Far Eastern University-Diliman, second-placed University of Santo Tomas and third-placed La Salle-Zobel in the semifinals.
“I would like to thank God for this,” said the Admirals’ Ghanaian coach Sam Bonney. “I’m so happy for the boys and the whole Southridge community, who came to support us. When we arrived here, Claret was able to beat La Salle. So you know, it gave us more confidence that we have to win this game to get to the final position so that’s what we did. We tried our best to win the game.”
Southridge placed fourth with 11 points, one clear of Ateneo, which was eliminated in the Final Four race with the result. The Blue Eagles needed to win to advance.
The Final Four is on Saturday’s Final Four with the top-ranked Baby Tamaraws taking on the Admirals, and the Junior Golden Booters battling the Junior Green Booters.
Also-ran Claret School logged its first-ever win in the league following a 3-2 conquest of La Salle-Zobel.
FEU-D closed out the eliminations with a 3-2 win over UST.
The Baby Tamaraws tallied 28 points, six clear of the Junior Golden Booters, while the Junior Golden Booters settled for 13 points. La Salle-Zobel was on the brink of dropping to fourth place after Southridge opened the scoring.
The Red Roosters still have something to celebrate after Paolo Rodriguez struck in stoppage time that gave the Quezon City side full points.
“For now, di ko masabi sobrang saya ng team namin throughout the season (kasi) talagang nasa bottom kami,” said Claret assistant coach Chevy Celeste.
“We were always trying to figure it out pano namin i-bounce back. Luckily today, nag-prevail talaga and yung goal lang talaga namin this season (is) to get the experience for the upcoming Season 88 and prepare for it.”
