NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
McALLEN — After 60 minutes of empty excitement, the first shot that found the twine picked up the pace. McAllen High and Weslaco East found the net in the later stages of the second half to play to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
A through pass from Antonio Hernandez found the foot of the Bulldogs’ leading goal scorer, forward Emmanuel Llanas, and he made no mistake with 21 minutes to play in the final game before both teams start district play.
“ We’ve been working in practice a lot, and it showed in the game,” Llanas said. “We did our best. Just that goal that they scored, we need to take that out. Just (need to) keep working hard until district.”
For most of the game, McAllen High’s Camacho was the most creative player in a white uniform, but he was often outnumbered on the rush. The lack of numbers downfield contributed to McAllen not recording a shot on goal until the second half.
Llanas said that the strong start to his season offensively has a lot to do with teammate Francisco Camacho’s pace and skill complementing Llanas’s ability to make plays.
“ He’s a really good player, and he scores goals, but thank God I’ve been scoring more goals this year,” Llanas said. “He’s been playing more as a team player than last year. I think that’s been helping me score more.”
Wildcats midfielder Saul Muñoz was clutch in answering the Bulldogs’ tally just less than two minutes later. A free kick was sent into the box, but McHi’s defense and goalkeeper couldn’t contain the ball. The result was a tap-in equalizer.
“ The mentality was just to go fight for it, like it always is,” Muñoz said. “I think we had plenty of chances in the first and second half to score. We got that free kick, it fell to me, and I scored it.”
The man with the captain’s armband had a pleased assessment of his team’s performance in non-district play.
“ We just try to fight hard every single minute of the game,” Muñoz said. “I think it definitely helps. This game, it was a very hard-fought draw. I think we saw very good things in the game. Some things we have to correct, but the majority very good things.”
During the 13th minute, Camacho had the wheels to get into attack position, but defender Chris Delarosa stayed in pursuit and blocked the shot.
Weslaco East coach David Castro was happy with his team’s emphasis on defense, which has been a strong suit of the team so far.
“ We pride ourselves in our defense,” Castro said. “You know sometimes we break down, but every game we go into, we’re going to try to shut them down. And hopefully, our forwards or our midfielders or anyone can have the chance to score.”
McAllen High’s best chance during the first 40 minutes was from Bryan Perez, who was all alone after a corner kick, but his volley attempt went high over the crossbar.
On Weslaco East’s side, Orlando Fuentes had a glorious chance in tight but was denied by McAllen’s Edgar Barbosa. The keeper played an outstanding first half, also stopping East’s Ricardo Avendaño Jr., who was named MVP in the team’s Corpus Christi Tournament championship two weekends ago.
In the 36th minute, Barbosa made another key save against Luis Ramirez.
McAllen High’s first shot that required a save came from Camacho with 27 minutes to play. His dribbling and control made the play happen. As the play developed in the second half, more space was available for both teams, and the movements were crisper, according to McAllen High coach Fernando Segovia.
“ It must have been the halftime speech, right?” Segovia said. “Halftime, I corrected the mistakes. They weren’t doing the correct movements as far as my forward and swinging midfielders. The defense was touching the ball more, and we had a few more chances. We just need to work on finishing.”
After both goals had been scored and 16:30 remained in the game, Camacho was fouled just outside the penalty box. Llanas had a bid for his second goal of the evening, but the dropping shot didn’t fall quickly enough to avoid the crossbar.
“ We have a lot to work in practice,” Llanas said. “They were good games for practice, but we have a lot of work to do, because it’s going to be a tough district this year.”
The Wildcats start district play against Weslaco High on Friday. McAllen open District 30-6A play on Feb. 2 against La Joya High.