UAAP: Rivas strikes anew, lifts UP over UST

MANILA — Erissa Rivas extended her scoring run to three matches and powered the University of the Philippines to a 1-0 win over the University of Santo Tomas, Wednesday at the UP Football Stadium.

This was UP’s second straight win in the UAAP Season 89 women’s football tournament, giving them a strong end to the first round of the competition.

Rivas took advantage of the ample space given to her on the counterattack to put the Fighting Maroons ahead in the 41st minute.

That proved to be the difference as UP climbed to provisional third place with six points and a goal difference of 0, just ahead of Ateneo, which has three points and a –2 goal difference and faces National University later in the day.

“Talagang we really had to gut it out. The game wasn’t pretty but the most important thing is the result,” said longtime UP head coach Anto Gonzalez, who credited his players for going all out despite some of them dealing with illness.

UST dominated possession in the opening period and applied a high press, but could not produce a clear-cut shot to trouble UP goalkeeper Ainnah De Guzman.

The Lady Booters had another golden opportunity in the second half, but they failed to capitalize on a scramble near the goalmouth as the Fighting Maroons eventually cleared the danger.

UST will look to regroup in the second round after suffering its third consecutive defeat, leaving the Lady Booters in sixth place with three points and a –1 goal difference.