UAAP: La Salle overpowers UP, claims top seed

The DLSU Men’s Football Team grabbed the top spot in the UAAP Season 77 Men’s Football tournament after taking a 3-0 victory against the UP Fighting Maroons last February 19 at the FEU-Diliman Football Field.

Senior midfielder Nate Alquiros provided the first and second goals for the Taft-based squad while late substitute Chuck Uy provided the finishing kick with a late goal during added time.

With this victory, DLSU managed to remain undefeated and the squad now has eight wins and five draws on the season. La Salle is on top of the table with 29 points with one game remaining in the season for all teams. The FEU Tamaraws and UP are tied at second with 27 points while the NU Bulldogs, who have 23, are in a tight race with the ADMU Blue Eagles, who have 22, for the last semifinal slot.

Scoreless first half

In the first half, both sides displayed their strength in defense. An early free kick for UP that came in ninth minute looked like a good chance for them to take an early lead but the shot was thwarted by DLSU’s Greggy Yang and was eventually caught by goalkeeper Raphael De Guzman.

The DLSU defense remained on their toes as they were able to deny UP entry into the middle in the 11th minute and block a shot in the 15th. Two minutes later, a yellow card was shown to a UP player,  which translated into a free kick for Yang but was later on blocked and cleared by the UP defense.

10 minutes later, Yang had another chance to score courtesy of a free kick but the keeper was well on top of the situation and was able to catch the shot. The Taft-based squad came close to a goal in the 35th minute when Yang was able to connect with Alquiros with a cross from a free kick that lead to header by the latter but was blocked by the keeper. In the latter minutes of the half, both sides had chances to score but were unfortunate on their attempts. At the end of an eventful half, the score remains tied with no goals each.

Switching gears

La Salle had a better offensive half in the second with their improved passing and positioning against UP’s defense.  The first goal didn’t come until the 80th minute of the game when two straight faulty clearances from UP caused the ball to land inside the box as Alquiros guided the ball to the back of the net.

The second goal of the contest came in a form of a penalty kick after Chuck Uy was fouled well inside the penalty box.  UP’s goalkeeper had no chance in blocking the penalty shot as Alquiros scored once again in the 83rd minute.

As the clock ticked closer to the 90th minute mark, The Fighting Maroons became more eager to pull off the come-back.  UP Team Captain Jinggoy Valmayor tried to will his team on with desperation shots and fast attacks.  However, DLSU’s defense held on and prevented The Maroons to build any type of momentum.

Chuck Uy capped the game off when he scored in the final minute of added time.  Yoshiharu Koizumi took a free-kick outside the box and was deflected by UP’s goalkeeper towards the middle of the box.  Uy was on the right spot at the right time and guided the ball through the goal line for the exclamation point of the match.

DLSU head coach Hans Peter Smit was pleased with the result of the game, giving credit to the whole team for defeating last year’s second place finishers.  “This is a very big morale booster, three-nil against UP, who else can do that against UP?… It’s up to the boys, how far they want to go.  So far, it’s been a success and hopefully all the way to the finals as well,” said Smit.

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The next match for the DLSU Men’s Football Team will be against National University on February 22, Sunday, at 3 pm in the Moro Lorenzo Football Field in Ateneo De Manila University.