The Far Eastern University (FEU) men’s football team has been on a quest to clinch a Final Four spot in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season 81 men's football tournament after defeating the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons.

With this win, FEU now has a two-game winning streak after taking care of Adamson, 3-1, and knocking the Falcons out of Final Four contention last April 11 at the FEU Diliman football field in Quezon City.

“The problem was the mental issues, our players were a little bit loose in their minds, so we had time to fix it, and we overcome it against NU,” FEU head coach Bo Bae Park said.

It was a grit-and-grind affair for both teams in the first half, but in the 42nd minute mark, FEU’s Nicky Canonigo puts FEU on the scoreboard. It was then followed by FEU skipper Poi Saldivar who flaunted an excellent strike to slip past Falcon’s goalkeeper, CJ Viray.

However, the Soaring Falcons were able to score a goal via Kim Bardaje in the 57th minute mark of the match. Tamaraw Alex Rayos, who came off the bench, then sealed the match as he found gold at the back of the net at his first touch.

Coming into this match, the Morayta-based squad played without their defensive player, Resty Monterona, who suffered a bone fracture in his left elbow last game versus University of Santo Tomas (UST).

Moreover, Saldivar observed that his teammates were not in full condition if their scheduled game was in the late afternoon.

“Pansin ko kasi na kapag hapon ‘yung game namin wala kami masyado sa kondisyon kaya mas gusto namin umaga ang laro namin pero ngayon masaya ako na nag-perform ‘yung bawat isa nang maayos (I have observed that when our match was scheduled in the afternoon, my teammates and I were not in full condition so I think it was more effective for our team if we were tasked to play in the morning but still I am happy that each of us showed a good performance),” Saldivar stated.

The Tamaraws improved to a 6-3-2 win-draw-loss standing with 21 points behind league-leading Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), who sports a 7-1-3 win-draw-loss slate.

With three games remaining on their schedule, the green-and-gold booters will try to punch their ticket in the Final Four as they face the University of the East (UE) on April 14 at the same venue.

​​​-Joaquin Luis E. Quesada and Hillary Dana D. Estacio