Houplin keys Malditas romp vs Indons

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Joana Houplin spearheaded the assault as the Philippine Malditas waylaid Indonesia, 6-0, for a blazing start in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship at the Youth Training Centre in Yangon, Myanmar Tuesday night.

Houplin pulled off a hat trick (7’, 47’, 74’) with Camille Wilson (52’), Heather Cooke (80’), and Marissa Park (86’) complementing with goals as the Pinay booters joined host Myanmar atop Group B with 1-0-0. The Burmese crushed Laos, 5-0, in the other game.

The rookie-laden Malditas hope to carry the momentum over to Thursday night when they battle Japan’s powerhouse Under-23 side.

“We will take this one game at a time, learn from this game and come out stronger for the next game,” Malditas coach Ernie Nierras said.

“Still some bugs to work out but I’m so proud of how the girls played. This is a very young team but they played like veterans,” he added.

Houplin started scoring in the seventh minute as she pounced on a defensive lapse to draw first blood. The Indons had the chance to equalize when Rani Mulyasari overran her markers but Inna Palacios easily collected it to keep a 1-0 lead at the break.

The former Western Washington U standout padded Phl’s lead to 2-0 just two minutes after the start then Wilson put one in five minutes later and Houplin knocked in her third at the 74th. 

“We still have a lot of work to do but we’ve found a system that works for us. That’s a big step!” said Nierras.