MIAMI – Every team will fight until the final whistle in a football match, more so when it comes to trying to book a place in the most important game of the season. That's what happened with the last four teams of the Liga de Clausura of Costa Rica in the second legs of the Semi Finals this past weekend.
The first match saw CS Herediano welcome in LD Alajuelense on Friday evening. The hosts were looking to bounce back after a 5-0 first leg defeat and were all in to start the first half, with Yedry Salas opening the scoring for her team in the 1’. Herediano kept pushing, trying to find some spaces that would allow them to keep adding goals to their count.
But Alajuelense held strong, and in the second half, Mia Corbin scored twice, in the 75’ and the 81’, becoming the top goal scorer for Las Leonas, with a total of 30 goals in her time at the club.
The night ended with no more goals, LD Alajuelense becoming the first finalist with a 2-1 win in the match and a 7-1 victory on aggregate.
On Sunday evening, Sporting FC and Saprissa FF met again looking to clinch that one last spot in the Final following Sporting FC’s 2-1 first leg win.
The Albinegras of Sporting FC opened up scoring with Yerling Ovares giving them an early advantage in the 15’ with an assist by Katheryn Arroyo. Just 10 minutes later, Gabriela Villagrand evened things up for Saprissa, scoring her first goal of the night to make it 1-1.
In the second half, Cristin Granados received a ball in the area and sent it to the back of the net, giving Sporting the advantage again in the 47’. Las Moradas recovered from that and, in the 52’, Villagrand scored her second goal of the evening, putting the score level again at 2-2.
In the last minutes of the match, Granados would help her team again with a goal from outside the box, giving Sporting the 3-2 in the 90+2’. However, Saprissa FF wasn’t done yet, and for the third time in the game, Villagrand scored in the 90+3’ for a 3-3 final score. In the end though, the aggregate score was 5-4 in favor of Sporting FC, who became the last finalist.
The big Final will witness LD Alajuelense taking on Sporting FC to see who will lift this season’s trophy of the Liga de Clausura of Costa Rica.
