UAAP: Green Booters draw against UP in season opener

The debut of the DLSU Green Booters in UAAP Season 77 ended with a 1-1 draw against last season’s runner-up, the UP Fighting Maroons, last November 29 at Ateneo de Manila’s Moro Lorenzo Football Field.

UP was the first squad to register a goal via team captain Gerardo Valmayor in the 36th minute off a good pass by his teammate.  The Green Booters, on the other hand, were able to retaliate in the second half, the 53rd minute to be precise, after Chuck Uy scored a header off an excellent pass by Gelo Bustamante to tie the game.

In the early moments of the first half, the Green Booters struggled on an open play and had difficulty figuring out the Fighting Maroons’ defense.  An opportunity for the Green Booters to score was presented when a free kick in the third minute was awarded to Christian Villacin but he was unable to convert.

Valmayor then scored for UP in the 36th minute as the half ended with a score of 1-0 in favor of the Diliman-based squad.  DLSU had a chance to equalize the match before halftime from an attempt by Alfredo Bustamante that nearly went in, but struck the diagonal post of the goal.

The Taft-based squad started the second half with a mission to upset the Fighting Maroons.  An early shot at goal by Green Booter full-back Gerald Layumas almost took the game for La Salle but the UP goalkeeper interfered just in time.  DLSU finally equalized with Uy’s goal.  La Salle had multiple chances to crack the match open until midway of the second half, but to no avail.

The rest of the game was dominated by UP, with plenty of passes near the goal only to be disrupted by DLSU’s last layer of defense just in the nick of time.  Despite this, the score remained tied at one until the final whistle, even after three minutes of added time.

Next up for the Green Booters are the AdU Soaring Falcons, whom they will face next Thursday, December 4, at the FEU-Diliman Football Pitch.