After losing three of their first four games of the season, it is safe to say that the UST Tigresses had experienced a miserable start to their season.
While most of the results had not really been to their liking, the ladies from España might feel glad that they have a promising talent among their ranks who goes by the name of Charisa Lemoran.
The rookie forward has been playing impressively so far in the tournament. Every time she steps on the pitch, it would seem like she’s among the most experienced players of UST.
Lemoran had never played a game without creating at least one chance for her team. While at it, the first year player already has three goals to her name. Two of those came when she aided her team in pulling off a magnificent win against the FEU Lady Tamaraws. Apart from that, however, the season has been quite sour for the Tigresses thus far.
“Sa lahat ng laro, ginawa ko naman ‘yung best ko. Pero ‘yung talo namin, hindi talaga para sa amin ‘yun,” Lemoran said after going through a 6-0 thrashing by DLSU in their last outing in the first round.
The losses might come harsh for a player like Lemoran, who manages to flourish whilst others have not. Just in her first year, the striker has been holding her own on the pitch. Seemingly armed with nerves of steel, the rookie admits that she is doing her all to hide the nervousness. “Pressured kasi rookie tapos naglalaro na sa first eleven. Minsan nappressure pero so far ok naman,” the well-adjusted rookie elaborated.
Asked about the reason behind their struggles, the rookie thought that execution had been poor in most games. “Minsan nag-iiba kasi sa training at saka sa game,” she described.
For them to change their luck, Lemoran suggests improving the communication amongst themselves as the key factor. Also, she believes that they’ve been watch the ball too often than they’re supposed to, resulting in lapses that lead to opponents’ goals. So far, UST has a league-worst record in goals conceded at 15. That is a concern that they definitely to address before it’s too late.
The good news for UST is that they are not really far from where they aspire to be.
At the end of the first round, the Tigresses may be situated in last place. Yet, they are only three points behind FEU and UP–the two teams who are in second place at the moment. UST now has the chance to go level on points with last year’s finalists when they meet UP today at the McKinley Hill Stadium.
Back in action after a much-needed break, the Tigresses may just provide the latest twist to the Season 78 plot and it wouldn’t be surprising if Lemoran leads her team again to glory.