In what has been a one-sided affair, the DLSU Lady Booters continued their mastery over the UP Lady Maroons, 3-0, earlier today at the Circulo Verde Football Pitch. Goals from the efforts of Kyra Dimaandal, Irish Navaja, and Shai Del Campo came handy in the much needed victory to place the Green-and-White back to the winning column.
When asked about what happened, head coach Hans Smit emphasized the importance of continuous improvement, “We performed as established at training because of [the] last game. We were not that satisfied. Of course, UST is not UP. But nonetheless, every team is at par with each other. We had to come up from that last game.”
Capitalizing on early chances
The Taft-based squad switched their formation to a 4-4-2 formation this game. In the early chances of the game, it was UP who had the majority of chances. The first chance came in the fifth minute of the game from an inside of the boot hit in the penalty box for UP, who then missed the target. Another chance came in the ninth minute of the game when UP was able to muster a counterattack from a La Salle set piece, but a last ditch tackle courtesy of Chelo Hodges stopped the attack.
Despite the chances of UP, it was the Green-and-White who came close to scoring. In the 16th minute, off of a short corner, Del Campo put the ball at the back of the net but was caught offside. The Lady Booters eventually got the advantage when Dimaandal scored with a finesse strike from outside the box. It was Navaja who provided the assist, which a resulted to the breakthrough of the game late in the first half, as DLSU led UP, 1-0.
Sealing the victory
The Lady Booters did not let off the aggression in the second half as they found their second goal in the 51st minute. Weaving around the defenders were the duo of Del Campo and Navaja. The opposing goalkeeper saved the initial attempt from Del Campo, but Navaja was able to curl the loose ball to find the back of the net.
Navaja mentioned that coach Hans wanted more goals early in the second half and that her successful attempt encouraged the team to play with more intensity. “After the first half, we played really intense and aggressive inside the field because we [needed] to score more goals.”
The third goal came not much later and from the same left flank. At the 60’ mark, Sara Castañeda moved up the pitch to cross the ball across the box to Del Campo. The rookie quickly tapped the ball in to secure the third point.
Goalkeeper Tashka Lacson helped prevent any chance of a UP comeback as she made crucial saves in the 68th and 89th minute of the match. She remained unfazed despite the good passing from the Lady Maroons brought the ball close to the net.
Now holding a 2-1-0 record, the Lady Booters look to extend their winning streak against the FEU Lady Tamaraws on Wednesday, March 20, at 3 pm at the same venue.
