GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
HIDALGO — McAllen Memorial’s Leslie Flores has played side by side with America Martinez, last year’s All-Valley Player of the Year, since she was four years old. Martinez was always the natural striker, with Flores as the distributor and playmaker. A dynamic offensive pairing, the two reached new heights as juniors last season, when the Mustangs advanced to the Class 5A regional semifinals.
“It’s always been me and her on top,” Flores said.
Expectations for senior year soared, with the Mustangs set to return 10 starters. But in October, Martinez was given a rare opportunity: She had enough credit to finish high school a semester early, which would allow her to enroll in UTPA during the spring and jump start her college career.
The opening was too good to pass up, so Memorial enters 2015 down the Valley’s leading scorer from last season. The blow wasn’t enough to knock the Mustangs out of the No. 1 spot in RGVSports.com’s preseason top 10, but it puts a new pressure on Flores and the rest of the team as they look to build on last season’s playoff run.
“It’s been kind of an adjustment to play without her,” Flores said. “She was the leading scorer, and I was more assisting her. Now, I have to step it up and be the leading scorer. It’s a lot of pressure, but it’s just going to make me a better person and player in the end.”
Replacing a player like Martinez, whose speed, quickness and dazzling moves made her a nearly impossible mark, will be a group effort for the Mustangs. Flores figures to be at the center of those efforts, given her ability to come back to the ball on offense, control possession and generate a scoring opportunity for whoever is open.
“She plays a lot smarter than before,” coach Matthew Kaiser said. “She’s accepted that challenge and that pressure, that she’s the one we’re depending on to make the big play.”
Part of that burden will be shared by Alyssa Adriano, a first-team All-Valley midfielder last season. Kaiser said Adriano is key for the Mustangs on both ends of the pitch, shining because of her quick decisions and ability to pass or shoot effectively with either foot.
“We’re looking forward to an awesome season. Teams are chasing us,” Adriano said. “Unfortunately, we lost one player. We just need to get back in a rhythm of trying new things without her.”
With nine starters back from last year, finding that rhythm figures to be fairly easy. Kaiser had already decided on a formation before learning of Martinez’s departure, and nothing changed with the news. The Mustangs simply plug in the next player on the depth chart. In this case, that’s Cameron Alaniz, another returner.
“We don’t have to worry about new girls, and coping with them,” Flores said. “We’ve all been practicing for a long time together.”
So that means everything is business as usual, right? Same practice routines, same tactics, same everything?
“Well, no,” Flores said. “This year, we’ve been working harder, because we have higher expectations. We need to work harder than we did last year.”
Kasier said his players have run longer than in any previous preseason.
He’s also changed up his approach to coaching, toning down the overall intensity in favor of asking questions and developing more thoughtful players.
“Some of the players are four-year varsity starters,” Kaiser said. “At this point, a lot of things that happen, they should know how to deal with. So I put that challenge on them.”
Only time will tell whether McAllen Memorial will answer that challenge and return to regionals without the services of its best player.
The Mustangs passed their first preseason test with flying colors, routing Hidalgo in last week’s scrimmage. Martinez joined a small group of mostly parents looking on from the stands.
“Her being gone, it just makes everybody else step up and work harder,” Flores said. “It’s going to improve everyone, individually and as a team.”
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