Defending champions University of San Carlos (USC) returned to the championship round in style following a dominating 3-1 victory over the University of the Visayas (UV) in the Cesafi men’s football tournament on Thursday afternoon at the Cebu City Sports Center football field.
With the victory, USC not only claimed the first finals ticket but also topped the standings with 14 points while UV remained in third with nine points.
USC pressured UV’s defense early, which resulted to a converted penalty kick by Vinson Nery at the 27th minute. Aldrich Pelenio scored a header at the 35th minute to put the Warriors up, 2-0, at the interval.
However, the Green Lancers refused to fold up as they showed signs of life when Aldrin Lesolla hit the back of the net at the 57th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1.
But it proved to be the last hurrah for UV as the Warriors shut down their comeback effort following a 70th minute goal by Miguel Kwan.
Jaguars victorious
Meanwhile, the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) kept its championship hopes alive as it eliminated the University of Cebu (UC) with a 2-0 win to move up to second place with 10 points.
The University of Southern Philippines Foundation and the University of Cebu are in fourth and fifth places, respectively.
The top two teams after the elimination round will advance to the championship round scheduled on Nov. 25.