SPORTS
| March 27, 2019
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| La Salle FC's Gregorio Antioquia trips over Nicolo Pena of ACF Real Molinillo (Image Source: Lipa Football League) |
The
second season of the Lipa Football League is coming to an end and it will all
boil down with a thrillingly exciting championship showdown between Mentors FC
and La Salle FC which will take place on March 31, 2019 at the Aboitiz Pitch of
The Outlets at Lipa. These two teams from Group A were able to emerge
victorious over different opponents in the league's semifinals which was held last
February 25th only to be slated to compete against each other in the season
finale.
Mentors
FC of Fernando Air Base is highly regarded as the most experienced club among
the teams participating in the league considering that some of its players have
competed in the now defunct semi-professional United Football League. It seems
obvious why it managed to turned on the style in a 7-3 whitewash against Green
Stallions FC, the college football club of De La Salle Lipa, in the first match
of the semifinals. Entering the semifinals as the league's top goalscoring team
with 27 goals scored throughout the season, the Stallions have a hard time maintaining
their composure in scoring goals against the Mentors due to the resilience of
the ladder's goalkeeper John Vincent Laraya.
Meanwhile,
De La Salle Lipa's high school football club La Salle FC was able to escape ACF
Real Molinillo de Lipa in an intense second semifinals match, 3-2. The red card
being given to Molinillo's Mark Roy Gulang in the second half after lashing out
at an opponent after being tackled from behind literally changed the game and
allowed La Salle's Samuel Panghulan to score the winning goal for the team and
the finals berth. With that on hand, DLSL's finest high school footballers are
ready and all set for their anticipated rematch against Mentors FC for the Lipa
Football League championship.
If
you've been watching the games of the Lipa Football League at The Aboitiz Pitch,
you may have known that La Salle FC lost to Mentors FC in their first meeting
during the fourth round of the group stage, 4-5. There is something that Lipeño
and Batangueño football junkies should expect in the finals including Mentors
FC's unpredictable style of playing and La Salle FC's "never say die"
spirit and resilience. All will be said and done as the second season of the
Lipa Football League culminates on the last Sunday of March, so enjoy a dose of
football action at The Aboitiz Pitch and don't worry about watching since it's
free for the public eye.
