By GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Throughout the preseason, McAllen High defender Gaby Gonzalez focused on her free kicks. The move from right back to stopper for her junior season means more responsibility, more expectations and more opportunities on set pieces.
With her team down a goal and less than 5 minutes to play in Thursday’s season opening match against Sharyland High, Gonzalez had one of those opportunities from about 20 yards out on the left wing and nailed it, sending the ball perfectly just inside the far post to tie the game.
Sharyland, which got the better of the play for the majority of the frigid morning, had late chances at an equalizer but could never convert, as the RGVSports.com’s preseason No. 3 Rattlers and No. 5 Bulldogs played to a 1-1 draw in the opening game of the 2015 McHi Girls Soccer Showcase.
“I’ve been working on [my free kicks], and I’d say it paid off,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez felt that her free kicks had been a little “shaky” in recent practices, and coach Pat Arney said Gonzalez had been inconsistent.
But the opportunity she had Thursday was exactly the type she prefers, with a wide angle that allows her to take advantage of the natural curve of her shot.
Arney saw the opening from his vantage point on the sideline, and Gonzalez agreed to aim for it. After, Arney called it “the perfect shot,” one no goalie could have saved.
“I just kind of watched it in, and I was like, ‘What?’” Gonzalez said. “Defenders don’t usually score goals a lot, so I was just kind of like, ‘Woah, that’s cool.’”
Gonzalez’s goal offset the opening tally from Sharyland High’s Isabella Marinaro, who ricocheted a shot from about 30 yards out off the left post to give the Rattlers a 1-0 lead early in the second half. Rarely will a player attempt a shot from that range — Sharyland coach Aaron Clemons said he “could stand to see a little bit more running up top and us getting in better position to take shots” — but Marinaro had grown tired of trying to work her way through the defense.
“I was getting frustrated, and I saw that I didn’t have a chance to dribble, so I just took it,” Marinaro said. “And it went in.”
Clemons also felt some frustration during the game, as the Rattlers were unable to capitalize on opportunities to put the Bulldogs away. Nikki Gonzalez put a header off the post midway through the second half, and Vanessa Guevara rang a free kick off the cross bar with less than 2 minutes remaining. Guevara’s rebound came perfectly back to her, but McHi goalie Ruby Iracheta made the last in a series of critical saves to keep the game deadlocked.
Both coaches came away from the game wanting a little more, which both agreed is to be expected in a debut for talented teams with a decent amount of roster turnover.
Arney left hoping to cut down on silly mistakes, misguided passes and disconnected play. Clemons also found some little things to work on, namely finishing plays. Marinaro said the team needs to communicate more.
Just a few hours later, Sharyland was already showing signs of improvement with a 7-2 win against San Antonio Taft.
“That was real good for us,” Clemons said. “Having that first game with McHi being tough like that, I think it warmed us up and got us ready to play. It was really something we needed.”
McHi will have its chance to work out some of the kinks today with games against Corpus Christi King and Taft, and then Saturday against San Antonio Clark. Sharyland will also be back in action, playing Brownsville Rivera on Friday and Brownsville Lopez on Saturday.