Following a heartbreaking loss in their previous game against the NU Bulldogs last Saturday, the DLSU Men’s Football Team managed to earn a win against the AdU Soaring Falcons, 2-0, earlier today at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Co-captain Jed Diamante gave La Salle its first goal of the round after being given a penalty kick in the 68th minute. This was followed by La Salle’s second goal, courtesy of Chris Lawless off an assist by Mathew Custodio at the 77’ mark. A yellow card was also given to La Salle’s goalkeeper Paeng De Guzman in the 62nd minute for kicking Adamson’s Brian Jumo II on the shin.
“It’s a good start for the team,” commented assistant coach Alvin Ocampo. “First round, we started on a high note so we have to maintain yung composure sa game, especially sa start of the second round.”
Goalless first half
Similar to its game against NU, La Salle started off the first half already in possession of the ball, attempting to score immediate goals throughout the first 45 minutes but unfortunately, the Green-and-White failed to convert its finishing touches into goals, closing the first half scoreless.
Marcus Garcia had numerous attempts on target to score for La Salle but luck was not on the midfielder’s side as the ball kept missing the goal by merely inches. Custodio also tried to score, but just like Garcia, he was not able to convert the opportunities that were open for him. When asked about this, Ocampo said that the two have to work on their composure in front of the goal. “Proper finishing talaga,” he said.
Despite ending the first half with no goals made by both La Salle and Adamson, the former showed stellar defense and great passing all throughout the match.
Strong finish
As the second half kicked in, La Salle wasted no time trying to score and at the same time, keeping their opponent from doing the same thing. Both Custodio and Garcia kept trying to chip the ball inside the goal but were still unlucky as the shots were wide and missed or were caught by the keeper. In the 58th minute, Mateo Alegre was subbed in to replace the already frustrated Garcia.
At the 62’ mark, however, a yellow card was given to La Salle’s goalkeeper Paeng De Guzman for kicking Adamson’s Brian Jumo II after trying to stop the latter from scoring. Not long after, a yellow card was also given to one of Adamson’s player, resulting in a penalty kick given to La Salle, which Diamante gladly took and converted into a goal in the 68th minute of the game.
This pressured Adamson to equalize in order to prevent the Green-and-White from winning but it was not until the 77th minute where Lawless scored La Salle’s second goal off of an assist coming from Custodio from inside the box to essentially seal the win for DLSU.
Comparing the results of today’s game from that of the first round, Ocampo shared that the team dominated during both games but the difference is that their possession of the game along with their movements are better now compared to the previous round. “Mas control namin. Better than the first round.”
As for their upcoming game against Ateneo whom they lost to in the first round, 2-1, Ocampo said that he and the team will take it one game at a time. “One win already on the second round. We have to get back [at] Ateneo in the second round game so we have to play our best again against them.” Ocampo also added that as for the rest of the season, the team’s main focus is to get into the final four. “Very important yung games ngayon sa second round,” he concluded.
The DLSU Men’s Football Team will look to earn another win as it will be facing off with ADMU, which is currently third in the table this Sunday, 1:30 pm, at FEU FERN.
