The De La Salle University men’s and women’s teams opened their Season 75 accounts in frustrating fashion as both sides failed to take home wins in Sunday afternoon’s UAAP football tournament curtain-raiser.
Green Booters: Losing footing early on
A couple of quick second half goals from Jesus Melliza and a late Noli Chavez goal were just too much for the Green Booters to handle as the team suffered a 3-0 defeat in the hands of the FEU Tamaraw Booters at the Moro Lorenzo Football Field in Ateneo de Manila University.
“It’s just the first game. There are mistakes. Definitely, I am going to make some adjustments,” explained DLSU mentor Hans Peter Smit.
In a game that was played under wet conditions, the Tamaraws had better control of the ball. The aforementioned team’s perseverance in getting the go-ahead goal pushed La Salle’s goalkeeper Patrick Deyto into a few good saves.
The Tamaraws, however, continued to pursue goals. Melliza paced from the left wing towards the DLSU box. He then released a shot, which went into the back of the net to score the first point of the match.
After five minutes, he doubled his tally with another goal. A misunderstanding in the DLSU backline left Melliza, who came from the right wide open to make the score 2-0 for FEU.
Efforts by Gio Diamante and Nate Alquiros to get a badly needed goal were easily cleaned up by FEU’s backline.
With just three minutes left on the clock, substitute Chavez added misery to the Green Booters as he fired a shot to give FEU a three-goal win.
Aside from opening day jitters, Smit also thinks that his wards have been complacent in going up against the Tamaraws, the team DLSU destroyed in last week’s IPPCA finals.
Lady Booters: An even result
The DLSU Lady Booters began the team’s hunt for the UAAP title with a goalless draw against the FEU Lady Tamaraw Booters at Ateneo de Manila University’s Ocampo field.
The Lady Booters spent most of the match defense against the dangerous Tamaraw offense.
FEU’s offense was relentless throughout the match; there were a couple of golden opportunities wherein the Morayta XI failed to convert.
One of those is Lady Booters goalkeeper Inna Palacios’ lapse in the 42nd minute that almost gave FEU the breakthrough goal if not for her last-ditch block of Charmaine Fagaragan’s tap-in from one yard. DLSU skipper Miel Ampil then cleared the ball.
Another instance came in the 70th minute when FEU’s Barbie Sobredo beat Palacios to the ball. Facing an open goal, Sobredo’s shot brushed the goalmouth, but was way off target.
Even if FEU swapped keepers in the second half, neither one was busier than Palacios who stopped every FEU shot.
The lone shot on target for the Lady Booters came from Karla Pacificador, who struck a long-range effort in the 52nd minute.
“They were too concentrated on playing defense against FEU, because FEU is the most lethal team here,” commented DLSU Coach Smit.
Ampil, last season’s Best Defender award recipient, agreed with her mentor. She said that the team’s game plan against FEU was really defense-oriented. She furthered, “We have to play defensive against FEU because FEU is an offensive team.”
Nonetheless, she mentioned that the Lady Booters should balance defense and offense at the same time.
Palacios, who played her first game in the UAAP together with four rookie teammates, rated herself unsatisfactory, but her mentor disagreed. “Every first game, the players are jittery. It has always been like that,” told Smit.
Standings
The result puts the Green Booters at dead last with NU as both teams have zero points. Other games saw Ateneo and UE fight out a goalless draw while UST started with a, 2-1, win over NU. UP was awarded a bye in the seven-team tourney.
Meanwhile, the Lady Booters and FEU are tied at second place with a point each while Ateneo sits on top with three points. UP is now at fourth place after the defeat. UST, last year’s champion, have yet to start their season.
Next assignments
The Green Booters will avoid another defeat when the squad goes against the NU football team this coming Wednesday morning, 10 am.
The day after that, it will be the Lady Booters’ turn to play at Ateneo’s Moro Lorenzo Football Field. Last season’s runner-up will be taking on a battered UP Lady Maroons squad that experienced a 0-2 hammering against Ateneo in last Sunday’s earlier game. Kick-off time is at 1 o’clock in the afternoon.
