It may not have been a win, but the result was a vital point nonetheless to the UAAP Season 81 Women’s Football Tournament’s big dance.
Up against the University of Santo Tomas Lady Booters, the De La Salle University Women’s Football Team’s lack of luck in front of goal condemned it to a 0-0 draw, last May 1, 2019, at the Circulo Verde field in Quezon City.
The result helps La Salle to maintain its lofty position at 1st place in the standings with 12 points and a draw in its last two elimination round games is enough for the team to extend its finals streak to four consecutive years starting from Season 78.
Luck wasn’t on La Salle’s side right from kickoff as Hans-Peter Smit’s wards were denied twice by the crossbar in the first half much to the team and its supporters’ exasperations.
With only minutes left in the contest, captain Kyra Dimaandal had a good sight at goal, only for USt goalkeeper Beatriz Sacdalan to deny her with a brilliant save to deny La Salle the three points.
“(The) intensity was there. At least we didn’t lose the three points. That’s what we were after eh. Worse comes to worse, we still have one point that will still put us there in the top two. That’s our real target naman. UST has one more game, we have two more games so it’s in our hands. It’s in our own hands naman talaga if we want to reach the finals or not,” said Smit.
Up next for La Salle is game against Ateneo de Manila University on May 4, 2019, 3:00 PM, at the same venue. While a draw would suffice, UST failing to win against University of the Philippines in the morning fixture sends the Green and White towards the finals.