Second Day: TLZ prevails; Stick-O, Superfly even

TLZ vs Boomslangs, 2-1
Led by the rising rookie Nickolo Perez, TLZ secured their second win of the season after defeating the Badass Boomslangs, 2-1, last Saturday, 21st of July. Perez scored TLZ’s two goals.
The game started slowly for both teams, thanks to the suffocating defense exerted by both teams. No goal was recorded in the first half. But Perez gained momentum early in the second half that resulted to a goal at mark 11:27. Perez was unassisted as he scored from a tough shot from the left side. The Boomslangs did not fail to answer with Tata Cabillas’s goal at mark 13:37 made possible by a long cross-court pass from Myk Villanueva. Cabillas’s lone goal of the game came from a nice hussle after TLZ’s goalkeeper Neil Astrologo failed to secure the ball right after catching it. Two and a half minutes after that, Perez gained another stat by scoring another unassisted tough shot from left side. The game ended with TLZ up by 2-1.
Many penalties were committed by both teams. Three were called for a high stick violation while another three were called for a hitting violation. TLZ’s Astrologo saved the goal 10 times. Boomslangs’ Villanueva protected the goal thrice and Daryll Paz who manned the goal in the second half was not able to save any attempt.

Stick-O vs Superfly, 3-3
The League recorded the second draw game of the season with Stick-O and Superfly scoring even in their bout.
Ralph Ramos of Superfly scored an early goal just 13 seconds after the first face-off. He was unassisted. Nimuel Diones answered at 3:55 mark with his own unassisted goal. Diones earned a high stick violation at 5:25 and Superfly’s Joco Navarro also called for the violation 20 seconds after that. Nonetheless, Diones was not finished then as he was able to catch the ball from #22 and hit it passing through the goalkeeper at 7:20. First half was captured by Stick-O, 2-1.
Stick-O gained a comfortable lead with Paolo Rentero’s effort for a goal at 14:52. Rentero did not play in the first half. Down by two goals, the Superfly did not concede. Ramos was able to make the right shots at marks 16:57 and 18:46 without the immediate help from his team mates. By those two goals, Ramos completed another hat-trick, his second of the season. The game ended with both teams garnering three goals a piece.
The brilliant goalkeepers of both teams ably defended their own turfs. Stick-O’s Liam Canlas protected the goal seven times while Superfly’s Nathan Nogales secured his four times.

Article by Redbert Maines
Photos by Nate Tarcelo.