Straight from a defeat at the hands of the University of the East Red Warriors, the De La Salle University Green Archers knew they needed to get a result to put their UAAP Season 81 Men’s Football Tournament campaign back on track.
Two early goals sealed the deal as La Salle blanked the National University Bulldogs 2-0, Sunday afternoon at the Far Eastern University-Diliman field in Quezon City.
“We’re happy with the win. It’s a good morale booster for the team,” said La Salle coach Alvin Ocampo.
The Green Archers enjoyed a stellar start to the contest thanks to Mateo Alegre. The sophomore forward raced through on goal and calmly put the ball at the back of the net at the first minute of the game. La Salle then doubled its lead at the 31st minute when Mikio Umilin converted a fantastic freekick at the 31st minute.
NU’s best attempt at the period came from Dave Deloso’s free which was routinely caught by La Salle goalkeeper Gab Villacin.
Come the second half, La Salle kept it tight defensively and threatened to put the ball at the back of net for the third time. Shanden Vergara, substitute Mohammad Adil Almohjili and skipper Jed Diamante all had sniffed at goal while rookie Christian Penalosa’s goal was disallowed due to handball.
Similar to the first half, Villacin was a virtual spectator im the contest and he performed a basic save to deny Joshua Broce’s free kick.
Both schools’ next game shall be at FEU-Diliman on March 7, 2019. La Salle (6 points) plays defending champions University of the Philippines at 9:00 AM while NU (2 points) goes up against FEU afterwards at 1:00 PM.
NU XI: Alangilan, Betanio (GK), Broce, Dahan, Deloso, Lawagan (C), Moreno, Ouano, Park, Perong, Velez.
DLSU XI: Abao, Alcantara, Alegre, Diamante (C), Koizumi, Marfiga, Montelibano, Siggaoat, Umilin, Vergara, Villacin (GK).
