NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen High hadn’t been in a tight game since Feb. 6, when the Bulldogs played McAllen Memorial just two games into the district schedule.
That evening, the Bulldogs took over the game against their crosstown rivals during the second half. McHi played 12 more games before another result was uncertain past halftime.
In Friday’s regional quarterfinal match against Harlingen South, McHi needed a player to step up and break a tie to keep the season from being decided in overtime. Freshman Chloe Fallek was the savior who came off the bench and scored with 21 minutes remaining to lift the Bulldogs into the fourth round with a 2-1 win.
McHi’s Hannah Kelly said the tight match could have been a blessing in disguise.
“It felt a little different, but I thought it was very important that we actually went through the struggle, because it’s going to get us prepared for this next game,” Kelly said. “Now, we won’t enter the game against Johnson in shock, the way we were against (Austin) Vandegrift. We’re actually really prepared, and we’re really excited for it, too.”
“To be unpredictable is a very strong aspect of a team,” McHi’s Zoe Flores said. “Because other teams study other teams. If we are unpredictable, and we move around, and we move around our players, we become unpredictable, and they don’t know what to expect.”
In February, Sophia Soto and Ava Alaniz scored the third and fourth goals of the game, respectively, to push past the Mustangs 4-1. That duo has carried a healthy amount of the offensive workload this year but hasn’t been asked to do it alone.
Most of the Bulldogs players have found the net this season. In three postseason matches, nine different players have scored, giving McHi the balanced attack the team has strived for.
Having a wealth of scoring options is a welcome improvement following a season in which the lion’s share of the goals came from then-senior Anna Hover.
“It’s nice. They can’t key in on one spot. They have to respect a number of different things,” veteran Bulldogs coach Pat Arney said. “If they try to stop one thing, we go to plan B. If they try to stop A and B, we go to C and D.”
Ava Alaniz, a sophomore midfielder who played on last season’s team, said secondary offensive players always had the ability to score goals. Necessity has allowed those goals to come every night this season.
“Now, it’s really spread out,” Alaniz said. “Even for other teams, they knew we can be going to Zoe, Westyn (Henderson), Sophia, Chloe, whoever. So it makes us a lot more unpredictable.”
Alaniz, who has three playoff goals, stresses that the key to success is jumping on the opposition early.
“For the most part, we play well under high-pressure situations, as long as we get into our groove early and we combine with each other,” Alaniz said. “We’re really good once we start to get going. The more we’re passing with each other, we have people making runs. We start to pick up steam, and we become really good.”
Against Harlingen High in the area round, McAllen found the back of the net on a set piece. Flores sent a free kick into the box, where Jackie Lemus was waiting to send the ball home with a side volley.
Goals after a whistle have been key for the team all season. Henderson has been a consistent provider of chances, and even some of her direct shots have found twine.
Alaniz said that the free-kick potential has always existed, but experience has helped the players over the ball make more dangerous service and produce more goals.
“I think we’ve been good at in the past, but I think Zoe, Westyn and Jackie, who are our three main people who take the corner and free kicks, have really gotten down the weight of the ball,” Alaniz said. “As well as when to kick it high, when to kick it low, when to drive it.”
Arney was happy to be in a tightly contested match again, even though he wasn’t expecting to be in a nail-biter just yet. Now, his team faces San Antonio Johnson at 3 p.m. Friday in an attempt to become just the fourth Valley girls team to reach the regional finals.
“It’s always nice to test yourself and see what you can do, though that was much closer than we wanted,” Arney said. “It was a good test. All these games are going to be close. There’s no more 7-0 wins or anything like that. We’re just hoping for a win, whether that be a PK or overtime or whatever.”