Determined Panthers: USPF wants to be more than just a runner up in Cesafi men’s football

Christian Paolo Saguin of USC tries to steal the ball from a USJ-R booter in yesterday’s Cesafi men’s football game at the Cebu City Sports Center (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON).

The University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers has had enough of being a runner up in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) men’s football tournament.

That’s why come Nov. 13 when they embark on their fifth finals appearance, they vowed to give it their all as they look to finally bring home the crown.

Yesterday, the top-seeded Panthers formalized their entry to the finals when they held the University of the Visayas (UV) to a scoreless draw at the Cebu City Sports Center. They finished on top of the rankings with a 3-1-2 (win-loss-draw) record.

In the finals, USPF will be facing a familiar foe in three-time champion University of San Carlos, which finished the elimination round at second place with a 2-2-3 slate.

The Warriors capped off their elimination round stint with a 2-1 win over the University of San Jose-Recoletos yesterday.

USC will be the final hurdle that will be standing in the way of USPF’s bid for a first title in the Cesafi tournament. And it won’t be easy for coach Eleazar Toledo and his Panthers.

According to Toledo, this will be the third time USPF will play against USC in the finals. The team has lost all of its championship games against USC, the last one in 2014, which was a 5-3 decision in favor of the Warriors.

“We badly want to win the title,” Toledo said. “We will make sure that we will [give] everything in this match against USC.”

The Panthers will have to wait for three weeks before their finals match against USC. Toledo said the long break will be helpful for both finalists.

During the break, most of his players are expected to be going back to their provinces. He said when they return, they’ll have just one week to prepare for the finals.

“I’m not there to monitor their activities [in the provinces] but it’s the perfect time for them to relax and unwind before they will be grinded back into training,” said Toledo. “We (USC and USPF) both have one week to prepare our players. I will just make the necessary adjustments and for sure USC will also adjust in this long rest before the finals.”

Meanwhile, the defending champion University of Cebu was declared third placer for this year’s tournament after finishing the elimination round at third with a 1-0-6 record.