BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — Coming into Tuesday’s game, both McAllen Memorial and McAllen Rowe had identical, one-loss district records. Memorial created separation on the field and in the standings with a 3-0 win over Rowe at home at Boxer Hernandez Stadium.
The Mustangs handled the Warriors’ early efforts to push forward and probed to find their own offense. Memorial (5-1) outside backs Ashante Lee and Leilani Sanchez were up for the task of fending off long-ball attempts by Rowe (4-2).
“It kind of boosts our confidence up there, that they’re working hard in the back,” Memorial forward Geo Hernandez said. “It kind of pushes us to keep working hard up on top to get early goals, because we’ve always been a team that needs to score early.”
Memorial almost found that early tally less than 10 minutes into play, when a centering ball bounced off Rowe goalie Hethyr Moore’s hands. Ari Ramirez had an empty net but couldn’t bury the header, sending the ball off the football goal post.
Hernandez eventually rewarded the Mustangs’ offensive pressure with a first-touch shot following a Viviana Cruz throw-in halfway through the first period.
The Mustangs started the game with the gusty wind at their back, but coach Matthew Kaiser believes playing against the wind might be a benefit.
“The girls know some of these players just like they know McHi, so they’re comfortable playing against them. I try to get the girls to take the emotion out of it and go out and play solid soccer, just like we practice,” Kaiser said. “The last two games have been windy, but we’ve actually done better against the wind than with it.”
His philosophy is that playing against the wind forces his team to be “more deliberate” with its passes and runs.
The second half brought better play from the Mustangs, who almost doubled their lead just 40 seconds after the whistle. Hernandez was in alone with time to beat Rowe’s Moore, but the keeper came up with her best save to that point in the night.
Later, Mustangs sophomore Mia Perez provided a flawless delivery to Ramirez, who made no mistake on a breakaway 8:54 into the second half.
Midfielder Andrea Santana echoed her coach’s sentiments regarding the team’s more polished play when facing the 30 mph gusts.
“We had the wind against us, so it was easier for us to pass instead of long ball, long ball,” Santana said. “The passes were accurate and one-touch or two-touch, and that’s why we scored two goals against the wind.”
Santana scored the game’s last goal with 27:08 remaining. All three of Memorial’s goals were scored by sophomores.
Rowe’s high-scoring trio of Emily Morin, Sabina Sanchez and Alexa Garza was stifled, struggling to even get good looks at the goal.
Kaiser said his speedy defenders caused frustration for the Warriors forwards, who were used to more time and space on the ball.
“We’ve got a really athletic defense. That makes it hard for teams that want to play long ball, because our girls can run with pretty much any of the forwards we face,” Kaiser said.
Memorial’s goalie tandem of Victoria Tanguma and Desiree Lujan combined for the shutout. Lujan was more often tested, wrapping up a first-half free kick and stopping a pass from Morin to Garza to preserve the clean sheet.
“If we have one goalie injured, we can depend on the second goalie, who has the same capability,” Santana said. “We have confidence in them, like our coach said, so it’s easy to connect with them, as well.”