University of Santo Tomas kept its back-to-back title bid alive by blanking a short-handed La Salle side, 2-0, Thursday that forced a winner-take-all showdown in 72nd UAAP women’s football final at the Ateneo Erenchun Field in Quezon City.

Marianne Narciso, set to be named this year’s best striker, scored two goals as the Tigresses pounced on the absence of the Lady Archers’ star goalkeeper Hannah Ibarra to extend the finals series to another game on Sunday.

La Salle, which topped the eliminations and claimed the first finals berth, holds a twice-to-beat advantage in the final. UST clinched the second finals berth last Sunday when it forced a scoreless draw with Far Eastern University.

A recipient of the Rookie of the Year award last year, Narciso, who had seven goals in the eliminations, capitalized on the poor defense of La Salle’s substitute keeper Marie Celine Ampil as she scored UST’s first goal with only three gone into the contest.

The sophomore striker was not yet done after that as she sealed the España-based booters’ victory with another hit off Ampil’s outstretched arms in the 81st minute. — Jonas Terrado