Cebu football - Springdale wins second straight title

PAREF-Springdale of Unit 6 retained its title in the secondary division football tournament of the Cebu City Olympics after a come-from-behind penalty shootout victory over Abellana National School (ANS) of Unit 9 yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Complex.
Both teams had a difficult time scoring in regulation and demonstrated top caliber defense.
ANS’s aggressiveness paid off in the 56th minute with right winger Jovan Bacus striking from inside the box.

ANS, which was banned last year after playing in a tournament outside of Cebu without permission from the Department of Education, continued to attack and had most of the ball possession.
However, Springdale finally got on board as forward Bran Go hit the equalizer in the 79th.
Both teams were still tied at the end of regulation and the game went to a shootout.
Goalie John Ray Nieves, made the first penalty for ANS for a 1-0 lead and kept it that way as he blocked Go in Springdale’s first attempt.
The next two kickers for both squads made their penalty kicks, for a 3-2 ANS lead.
Springdale got a chance to steal win after Shanee Sarmiento of ANS missed his strike, and Lyon Valenzuela converted his shot to even the count.
The fifth kickers of both teams then scored, forcing the sudden-death kicks.
Joeford Dolino volunteered to take the shot for ANS but his strike was deflected by Joshua Cruz, paving the way for Mikel Alazas’ heroics.
“Our victory was a little bit sweet because we were losing. Then there was a run by our player Bran Go. We thought the game was lost already,” said Mario Ceniza in a interview with Sun.Star Cebu.
“The game was really for us because we came to life in the sudden death of the penalty shootout,” he added.

Source . Sun Star Cebu