UC, UV booters secure semis seats in Cesafi tertiary football tourney

DEFENDING champion University of Cebu (UC) and University of the Visayas (UV) assured themselves of a seat in the semifinals after winning their final elimination matches in the Cesafi collegiate football championships yesterday at the Aboitiz Sportsfield in Subangdaku, Mandaue City.

UC emerged as the better team in the fast-paced ballgame against the University of San Carlos (USC), 4-2, while UV routed University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF), 2-0, to keep their hopes alive in the tournament.

Both USC and USPF gambled on using their second stringers since they were already assured semifinals berths.

UC and UV’s win resulted to the elimination of last year’s 1st runner-up University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R), which managed only one win in the single round-robin eliminations.

Despite the loss, USPF still finished the eliminations at the top of the leaderboard with a total of seven points.

UC, USC and UV had a three-way tie after accumulating six points as they each won two of their three elimination matches. By virtue of goal difference (GD), UV was relegated to fourth place with its -3 GD.

The tie between UC and USC was harder to break as they both posted a GD of one point. Tournament Manager Eugene Ynclino IV could not also rely on goals made because both teams also managed to find the back of the net six times.

It boiled down then to winner-over-the-other rule, which favored UC after winning over USC yesterday. UC will take the second spot while USC will be at third. This means then that both teams will face each other again in the semifinals this Sunday while USPF faces UV in the other pairing.  /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON