Overcoming an excruciating two-season-long wait, the DLSU Green Booters booked their ticket to the Final Four after handing the UP Fighting Maroons their first loss, 2-1, in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Football Tournament yesterday, January 29, at the UP Diliman Football Pitch.
John Gaverza delivered the brace, who struck early finishes in the 17th and 40th minutes, respectively, giving the Green Booters a commanding first-half edge.
The Fighting Maroons’ lone goal came from an inward deflection off Ramil Bation’s corner kick in the 53rd minute.
Never done
With a semifinals berth hanging in the balance, La Salle struck early against the unbeaten UP Fighting Maroons. The rookie-laden Green Booters kept their feet rooted to the grass. Under Head Coach Richard Leyble’s system, they stayed composed even with an underdog narrative, refusing to be overwhelmed by UP’s flow.
The opening minutes unfolded as a defensive chess match with the two backlines holding their shape, clogging passing lanes and deploying line-breaking runs. UP’s John Antonio pushed to penetrate through the defense, but Prince Reyes kept at pace with him. This anchored La Salle’s defensive haunt to sustain possession near the penalty area, probing patiently rather than forcing the issue. By the 13th minute, UP began to pave clearances, pinning the Lasallians into pressure. Still, the Lasallian goalkeeper, Jason Salavante anticipated each move; denying the Maroons’ effort to break through with long throws and persistent entries.
The Green-and-White continued to respond with urgency to clear danger. Such composure paid off as Bacchus Ekberg delivered a weighted, lofted ball into the box, where Gaverza perfectly timed his jump to open the scoring for DLSU, 1-nil. The advantage was secured, but complacency never followed. Momentum pushed La Salle to orchestrate plays through Gaverza’s subsequent attempts. Trailing and desperate, the white shirts surged forward, but Lucas Aguilar shadowed every move, snuffing out threats and promising transitions.
As excitement filled the atmosphere into the tempo, DLSU momentarily rushed their play. However, this resulted to the raise of flags and call for fouls, where the loose final touches haunted the team’s chances. Salavante stood firm against long-range efforts, while corners from the Maroons were outplayed by DLSU’s tightened passing lanes and walled-off desperate shots.
By the 32nd minute, the do-or-die urgency had softened into calculated control. Gaverza intensified his runs as Reyes directed the transitions. In a decisive move, Aguilar launched the ball forward to Gaverza, exploiting a defensive miscue as he leapt on the cross and chipped it into the net to double La Salle’s lead at the 40’ mark. The green shirts marched into the halftime break with a commanding 2-nil advantage over the Diliman-based squad.
Case closed
With a 2-nil lead precariously within their grasp, the Green Booters began the second half knowing all too well that they were up for a long, painstaking crawl to the final whistle. As the frontrunners began to assert a more aggressive posture, the Final Four aspirants saw their hands growing fuller by the minute. The first to toughen the challenge was Jian Caraig, who had been making good progress down the right flank, down to a wide attempt in the 52nd minute. The mounting pressure was inescapable for La Salle. All hell broke loose on the UP side after an inward deflection off Bation’s corner kick put them on the board at the 53rd minute, 2-1.
The Green-and-White had been more than incentivized to countervail, but the Maroons were determined to seize the sudden shift in momentum. Bation tantalized Frank Labayen before losing the handle, then came close to finding another goal only to be hounded by Reyes.
The tension peaked near the 70th minute, when Charles Lobitaña went inches away from an equalizer but rattled the crossbar. Bation’s ensuing header was then met by Salavante. This signaled the start of a frantic stretch marked by repeated UP throw-ins and sustained commotion inside DLSU’s box. Salavante could only rise to the occasion, spoiling the Fighting Maroons’ potential goals at the 77th and 84th minutes. Having held on for too long, Sebastian Fronda nearly sealed the contest in the 89th minute, but his would-be dagger drifted wide to the left.
Determined to not sever their last strand of hope, the Lasallians dug deep during the violent minutes of added time. A costly collision between Reyes and Florenz Tacardon left Reyes stretchered off and forced DLSU to finish with 10 men. Seeing the opportunity, UP began to probe the Taft-based squad’s defensive formation once more, but Labayen was quick to intervene decisively. Weathering more late physicality until the concluding whistle, the Green Booters decisively shut down all questions to their consistency with a hard-fought 2-1 win.
Teary-eyed and almost speechless after the victory, Head Coach Richard Leyble expressed gratitude toward the players, coaching staff, and Lasallian faithful. He emphasized that the win was a product of character: “More than winning, we need to earn their respect.” While acknowledging how formidable UP is, he stressed the importance of instilling a resilient mindset.
Gaverza, motivated with purpose, saw the win as a chance to rewrite their underdog identity this season. The lone scorer of the Green Booters reflected on the trust within the coach’s system, which they will carry into the semifinals: “We’ll polish some of our flaws in the game, go back to training, work hard, and focus on the semis.”
The Green Booters look to vanquish the UP Fighting Maroons once again in the Final Four, in hopes of forcing a decider, on Sunday, February 8, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
