La Salle Booters spur draws against powerhouse teams

The DLSU Football teams once again had a busy Sunday afternoon as they went head-to-head against top squads from their respective divisions at the FEU Diliman Football Field last February 1.  The first match saw the DLSU Women’s Team finish with a 1-1 draw against the defending champion FEU Lady Tamaraws.  Afterwards, another La Salle-Ateneo classic went down as the DLSU Men’s Team pulled off a 1-1 draw as well against their rivals.

Battle of offense

After suffering a 2-1 defeat against the Lady Tamaraws in the first half of the season, the DLSU Women’s Football Team bounced back and held their own against FEU.  Possession was even throughout the game, although the Lady Tamaraws had more looks at the goal than La Salle.

The game started off fast paced as both teams were determined to find the back of the net early.  Aside from a few close attempts, DLSU’s midfield did a good job in gathering the ball, but had difficulty finding their strikers.  FEU, on the other hand, utilized their lob passes to bring the ball forward but were then intercepted well by La Salle’s defenders.  The half ended with both teams still sitting at zero.

The first goal of the match came in the 77th minute when FEU’s Dolino received a pass towards the box and guided the ball for the goal and the one-point advantage.  Subsequently, the Taft-based squad grew more aggressive in hopes of salvaging the contest. Towards the last ten minutes of the game, a foul was called on an FEU defender just as Chermaine Guancia entered the penalty box. Guancia then drilled the penalty kick to equalize the game for La Salle in the 82nd minute and the match ended with a 1-1 draw.

“It’s a test of character nalang.  The momentum is still there, that’s what I told thema while ago.  Playing FEU is a big deal and being able to draw them,” commented DLSU head coach Hans Smit after the game.

Keeping the rivalry alive

The DLSU Men’s Football Team remained undefeated in UAAP Season 77 with their 1-1 draw against the ADMU Blue Eagles. Neither team have yet to gain an advantage over the other this season with their first encounter also ending at a stalemate.

La Salle commanded the possessions in the first half, with good midfield passing which resulted into decent attempts.  Ateneo, meanwhile, took advantage in transition and relied on their counter-offense.  The Taft-based squad was relentless in their attacks which produced plenty of clean attempts and corner kicks.  Ateneo’s Mikko Mabanag caused DLSU problems with his midfield passing early on.

The match heated up in the second half of action with both teams having success with their offense.  Yoshiharu Koizumi almost had the go-ahead goal in the 51st minute coming off a cross from Nate Alquiros, but it was caught by ADMU’s goalkeeper.

The advantage momentarily went to Ateneo’s side after a header by Julian Roxas flew past the goal line at the 56th minute.  Almost 20 minutes after, Koizumi would redeem himself and drilled the tying goal.  Koizumi was in the right place at the right time after a fumble inside the box coming off a free kick from Gregory Yang.

“It was a fair game.  Everybody gave their heart out.  That’s normal for a La Salle-Ateneo game.  The most important thing is that we haven’t lost yet.  It is very imperative that we maintain that because the points are very close between the [top] four teams,” said Smit

With the results, The DLSU Men’s Football Team remains in the second spot in their division. The Women’s Team, on the other hand, kept their championship hopes alive while also preventing FEU from securing an automatic spot in the finals.