Posted by ericsaints on January 10th, 2010 in News bulletin, Varsity activities

09 January 2010, Xavier School Greenhills. HEdCen Midgets A copped the RIFA Midgets A Championship in a highly-engaging finals match, winning by penalty shootout over Ateneo after regulation ended in a 3-3 draw.

Before kick-off, HEdCen’s Skie Carranza and Ateneo’s (and ex-HEdCenite) Miguel Almazan shook hands and embraced each other at midfield. Within three minutes, HEdCen drew first blood, courtesy of a neat looper on the run by Luigi Fernandez. However, late in the opening half, Ateneo scored twice in quick succession, one coming from a well-taken free kick outside the penalty box by Pancho Escalona and the second a superb strike by Miguel from the right flank.

Down 1-2 at the interval, HEdCen equalized at the 50th minute on Arvin Resuma’s clinical finish on a counter-attack. Midway through the second half, Ateneo regained the lead, thanks to another brilliant solo effort by Miguel. Luigi then scored his second goal and restored parity for the Redwoods (naks, para na tayong BBC sports reporter) 15 minutes before end of game time.

In the shoot-out, Arvin converted his PK and, taking over goalkeeper duty from Mico Protacio*, stopped Ateneo’s initial attempt by Pancho Escalona. The second round saw Luigi flicking the ball onto and over the crossbar, and Enzo Obeso scoring for Ateneo to make it 1-1. Jason Layug then blasted away with tremendous pace to find the back of the net for 2-1 in HEdCen’s favor. Third-round kicker for Ateneo Alcuaz missed, the ball going wide a foot or so off the right post. Next, Skie Carranza made it 3-1 for HEdCen with an accurate low shot into the left bottom corner. Needing to score to keep Ateneo’s hopes alive, Miguel followed Luigi’s example and change of fortunes by lofting his shot over the crossbar. (Ironically, each team’s respective top scorer during regulation failed on his penalty shoot-out attempt.) The miss mooted the need for the 5th round, so the shoot-out ended at HEdCen 3, Ateneo 1.

The win was well deserved, as HEdCen, despite having to come back on two occasions to tie, dominated possession for majority of the game and had more clear attempts on goal.

Though nerve-wracking practically throughout, the match had an unusual share of touching moments. Former HEdCen parents Kiteen Almazan (Miguel’s mom) and Ding dela Cruz (dad of Atenean left back and ex-HEdCen ‘96 member Edward) shared kumustahans and engaged in hilarious ribbing with HEdCen friends. Coach Juaqui took pride in Miguel’s and Edward’s importance as first-stringers of the Ateneo XI. After the shoot-out, parents on both sides lauded all the players, not just their own. Members of both teams, the perennial rivals at this age level – having become familiar with each other resulting from repeated championship clashes over the years – displayed a warm camaraderie at the match’s end. Skie gave his shirt to Ateneo’s Enzo (who’s reportedly migrating overseas soon) as a souvenir.

HEdCen team’s parents (led by Binggirl Clemente) will host a victory party for the RIFA Midgets A champions on January 17.

Well done HEdCen and kudos as well to Ateneo for a classic finals to remember!

*We’d like to take this opportunity to recall what we wrote before about a field player substituting the regular keeper for penalty shootouts:

Since there’s no need to catch or get hold of the ball in penalty shootouts, some teams in youth soccer replace the regular keeper with another player, usually the most agile kid with quick reflexes. This tactic shouldn’t be taken as slighting the regular keeper. Regular goalkeepers possess a wide variety of skills, including good hands, the ability to read trajectories of shots coming from various angles on the field, the smarts to decide when to remain in place or go off his/her line, accurate volleying, and quick instinctive reflexes, aka reflex goalkeeping. Since the shootout situation essentially requires reflex goalkeeping only, there may be someone else on the team better at this particular skill than the regular keeper.