GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen High’s Jackie Lemus started her Friday by slamming her hand in a car door upon arriving to school. With redness throughout and bruising under her fingernails, Lemus said she was constantly in pain.
Typically McAllen High’s keeper, Lemus sat the first 80 minutes of Friday’s game against McAllen Rowe because of the injury. But when McHi once again found itself facing penalty kicks, Lemus saw all of her teammates and coach Pat Arney turn her direction.
“I saw everybody look at me, and I was like, ‘I have to suck up the pain for the team,’” Lemus said. “And I did it. I was so proud of myself. I sucked up the pain, and it hurts, but we won. I’m so proud of that.”
Lemus turned aside a pair of penalty kicks despite the injured hand and even netted one as a shooter, helping McHi to a 2-1 (5-4 in PKs) win against Rowe on Friday at De Leon Middle School.
The win keeps Lady Bulldogs undefeated at 9-0, though McHi still trails 3 points behind McAllen Memorial in the District 30-6A standings by virtue of winning so many games in penalties.
“We needed a spark there at the end, and she certainly brought it in for us,” Arney said of Lemus. “We’re happy that she can suck it up.”
Lemus said coming into the game was a challenge after sitting for all of regulation, but one she was ready for. The Lady Bulldogs have had matches come down to penalty kicks five times in district play alone, plus another one or two during the non-district season. As a result, Lemus and her teammates have grown used to the pressure.
“I wasn’t warmed up. I wasn’t mentally ready. But as soon as I stepped on the field, I calmed myself and said, ‘Yes, I can do this,’” Lemus said.
McAllen High fell into a deep hole to start the penalty round, missing two of its first four kicks while Rowe started 3 for 3.
After the Lady Warriors missed their first chance to seal the game, Lemus pushed a kick into the left side of the net to even the round at 3, then followed up with a save to force sudden death.
Paola Alvarez and Miranda Muñoz scored for McHi, and Lemus made her second stop to seal the win.
“I didn’t have to say anything,” Arney said. “The girls at the end just really came through.”
Lemus coming off the bench was critical for a McAllen High team that was down to its fourth goalie. With Lemus and her backup both injured and McHi’s third option not available on Friday for personal reasons, the Lady Bulldogs turned to Amber Valduvin. The stout Bulldogs defense of Gaby Gonzalez, Muñoz, Mia Muñoz and Cari Guerra kept the ball from reaching Valduvin as often as possible, but Rowe’s Victoria Castro was able to bounce a shot past her to level the match at one during the first half.
The score answered an opening goal from McHi’s Serena Cervantes, who took control of a loose ball after Rowe’s keeper collided with a defender and poked it into the empty net about 10 minutes in.
Rowe’s loss was a third consecutive heartbreaker for the Lady Warriors and coach John Martinez. Last week, Rowe was within a goal of taking down District 30-6A leader McAllen Memorial. Two matches ago, Rowe lost 1-0 to La Joya Juarez-Lincoln despite a massive shot advantage. Rowe sits 4-5 on the season, good for third in the standings.
“It was a brutal way to end the game,” Martinez said. “We’ve got two shots to put them away. Obviously, it didn’t go in for us. We were upset, and the girls were upset. We don’t want to kick them while they’re down. We just tell them we have to regroup.”