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UAAP Football: Trust in Mendaño pays off as La Salle improvises to reach finals

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Levi Joshua Verora Jr.

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="DLSU" s="" Rocelle="" Mendano.="" UAAP="" media="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/05/14/uaap-85-women-s-football-rocelle-mendano-(dlsu)-(1).jpg"/><figcaption>DLSU&#x27;s Rocelle Mendano. UAAP Media Bureau</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA – Hans-Peter Smit’s first words to his De La Salle Lady Booters during their post-match huddle summed up how the team booked its ticket to the UAAP Season 85 women’s football final.“Forget the lapses. Kudos to the defense today,” the head coach told his players after they narrowly beat the University of the Philippines, 1-nil on Saturday at the UP Football Field in Diliman, Quezon City in the playoff game for a slot to the championship round.Owing to various player injuries, the Lady Booters had to improvise with a makeshift formation which saw three midfielders play out of position and form the squad’s backline.“The only real defender I had was (Tenelyn) Otom. That’s it, nobody else. I just had to transform them overnight to defensive positions. They delivered,” Smit shared.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/13/23/uaap-football-la-salle-women-oust-up-for-finals-berth">UAAP football: La Salle women oust UP for Finals berth</a></li></ul>“Obviously, I had to sacrifice. But look, we trained for this. Pain, we have to learn how to absorb, to see how far we can go.”Rocelle Mendaño, who played either the central midfielder or center forward positions throughout the elimination round, was slotted in as a center back, one of Smit’s decisions which ultimately paid off in the end.“Medyo hirap rin on my part because I am not used to playing defense, lalo na the center back. Besides that, malaking adjustments dahil sa mga injuries, but the coaches trusted me to play in that position,” Mendaño said.“With the help of my teammates, napadali ‘yung responsibility namin. With Coach Hans naman, he always says to know your responsibilities and communicate well with my teammates.”La Salle opened the scoring in the 25th minute of the do-or-die match, with Angelica Teves converting a penalty kick. It was Maria Lourdes Layacan’s run towards the box which earned them the opportunity to go up in the contest.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/30/23/uaap-football-ust-women-down-ateneo-to-stay-in-finals-hunt">UAAP football: UST women down Ateneo to stay in Finals hunt</a></li></ul>From there, La Salle’s midfield and defense took care of the rest.“That’s where you see the confidence of the defenders. I put Mendaño there. The other sweepers and stoppers aren’t really defenders. She had some lapses (at first), I told her stop giving the ball away. Hopefully, I don’t have to make any more changes because of injuries,” Smit furthered.“I put Mendaño there because she has the experience and the intellect. You just have to remind her.”Mendaño’s efforts also earned the praise of UP head coach Anto Gonzales, who went on to say La Salle deserved to win the match.“Mendaño played a fantastic game. I guess one thing we can learn from La Salle is just their quality. They kept the ball under pressure. They carried on with good passes, attacking passes,” Gonzales mentioned.“Hats off to La Salle. They played a fantastic game. They controlled the game … They deserved the win, definitely. We played poorly in the first half. We weren’t able to check anything from our objective list.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/13/23/uaap-ateneo-faces-feu-in-football-final-minus-carino">UAAP: Ateneo&#x27; Carino ruled out in football finals vs FEU</a></li></ul>Gonzales inserted winger Bethany Talbot and attacking midfielder Andrea Montilla in the second half, which allowed UP to take the ball to their offensive side.La Salle preserved the scoreline to book a date with Far Eastern University in the one-match finale on Sunday, May 21 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.“My defense stayed the same way. I said don’t break anything, basta put pressure on the ball carrier all the time. You do that and you take out (Alyssa) Ube and (Aurea) Reaso,” Smit said.“I don’t believe in playing player to player. It’s a team sport, and whoever can play better as a team better defensively, offensively, will be a notch higher.”“Sabi namin sa isa’t isa na walang bibitaw, we need to stick together pa rin until the last whistle and stick to our plan,” Mendaño added. “As what our alumni tell us, always championship mindset dapat because that allows us to perform our very best.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/12/23/uaap-football-ateneo-sets-up-finals-clash-vs-feu">UAAP football: Ateneo sets up Finals clash vs. FEU</a></li></ul>Interestingly, the victory was La Salle’s first over UP this season. As grueling as the campaign has been for the Lady Booters, Smit challenged them to carry forward and defend the crown.“I told them we needed to play like the defending champions we are. We needed to play like the last season before the pandemic,” he said.“We reach the last day. That’s very traditional of La Salle. That means we’re in the finals. It’s up to them if they want to win on the field. I will just prepare them.”<div> UAAP Season 85 is streaming on iWantTFC every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, available for Premium users outside the Philippines.</div>RELATED VIDEO<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1rk8SeTaoo8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>