The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu futsal team with Cesafi futsal tournament director Francis Ramirez (extreme left). CDN Digital photo | Mars G. Alison
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles won the two games that mattered and retained the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) futsal title Sunday afternoon, February 10, 2019, at the University of San Carlos (USC) gym.
The Magis Eagles ladies needed to win their last elimination game to keep their title chances alive and they successfully did that via a 2-1 edging of USC.
Ateneo’s win denied USC Warriors an automatic championship title as the loss gave both teams identical 7-1 win loss records.
This forged another game between both teams 30 minutes later, this time for the championship.
Fuelled by their determination to retain their title, the Magis Eagles then went on to blank the Warriors, 4-0, in the finals to once again became the Cesafi futsal champions for the second straight year.
Scorers for the championship match were Sydney Gonzales, Yeo Jin Kim, Andrea Alforque and Katrina Tolentino.
“Sa akong side jud kay kompyansa jud kaayo ko nga mudaog mi, even sa first round nga napildi mi but dako kaayo ko ug kuan jud nga mo win jud mi aning Cesafi kay dedicated man sad ang mga bata karon na mudaog mi, nga ma maintain namo among trophy,” said Ateneo head coach Melanie Bordalba.
(On my part, I was really confident that we will win, even if we lost to them in the first round but I had a huge belief that we will win the Cesafi because the kids were dedicated to winning today, that we will be able to maintain our trophy.)
During the first round of eliminations, USC actually outsmarted Ateneo, 5-2.
Had the Lady Warriors swept their elimination round matches by winning against Ateneo in the last elimination game, there would have been no need for a championship game and they would have walked away with the title and avenged their loss to the same Magis Eagles squad in the finals last year.
According to Bordalba, their loss to USC in the first round was what motivated them to win today.
She attributed that loss to the team not fully prepared yet for the tournament and her transition as she had to take over the head coach reigns after Apple Bariñan transferred to USC.
“Error jud to, di pa kumpleto ang team sa practice, di tanan players mo commit gud dayon sa practice,” Bordalba added.
(That was really an error, the team isn’t complete during the practice because not all players would immediately commit to practices.)
The head coach added it was a blessing in disguise that the team lost early, as it served as a wake up call for the players to remind them that they have to work harder and be complete in every practice. /bmjo