There’s a phrase the McAllen High girls soccer team uses when a player, especially a defender, sacrifices their face, head and body to stop a ball.
“You just Karla-d,” McHi head coach Patrick Arney said, referring to defender Karla Paredes. “That’s when you throw your body in front of the ball, you take one for the team, you sacrifice. We’ve seen that before over the years, but it seems like it’s happening a little more this year.
“Those are the type of intangible things that can make a difference, especially as you play better and better teams.”
That’s exactly what the Bulldogs are doing this weekend, facing arguably their toughest challenge of the season against Leander in a Region IV-5A semifinal at 10 a.m today at the Brownsville Sports Park. The second semifinal game pits McAllen Memorial against unbeaten Smithson Valley at 1 p.m. at the same location. The two winning teams will face one another Saturday for the Region IV-5A championship.
The phrase came about after Paredes, the senior defender, used her body and face as a wall to block a big McAllen Rowe shot early in the season. Now, it wouldn’t be surprising if “Karla’d” is a stat alongside goals, assists and saves.
“Defenders are the unsung heroes, and these girls get the job done,” Arney said. “The better the teams we play, the more responsibility falls on them, and I don’t think we’ve seen the speed, size, athleticism along with the soccer skills this team has. They are big, fast and aggressive.”
The eight-time defending District 31-5a champion Bulldogs have traditionally used their dominant ball control and offense as primary weapons — their first line of defense — against opponents. However, when faced with offensive stars such as McAllen Rowe’s Ayloni Garcia, Edinburg Vela’s Natalia Cortez or McAllen Memorial’s Kennedy Kaiser, the defense has had to play lights out and — for the most part — did, allowing those players just two goals during the six meetings between the top four teams in District 31-5A.
“Our defense takes pride in shutting down players like Ayloni and Natalia and Kennedy,” Arney said. “The whole team takes pride in that.”
Paredes is part of an aggressive defense that includes fellow senior Amber Ramirez, junior Emma Wilkins and sophomores Maisen Dubrule and Emma Lopez. Sophomore goalkeeper Allison Tawil backs up as the last line of defense for a team that gave up the second-fewest goals in a district loaded with scorers.
“Every part of our team is offense, and every part of the team is defense,” Dubrule said. “It’s not just the three of us in the back, but it’s everyone behind the ball talking to each other and everyone in front of us talking as well. Our defense is the first line of offense.”
Paredes recalls standing in goal at Sharyland during a corner kick. The ball rattled around in the box before one player blasted a shot. Paredes was there to stop it — with her body.
“It got me straight in the chest,” Paredes recalled. “Before this season, I didn’t have a lot of experience at the varsity level, and it was a bit terrifying at first and there was such a high level of forwards and players in the Valley this year.
“Defense is about being able to get control of the ball, get control of yourself, look up and make the right decision in the moment.”
This is the third straight trip for the Bulldogs to the Sweet 16. They are also the only Valley girls program to advance to the state tournament, doing so in 2018.
“Look at who we lost last year, but the girls have stepped up,” Arney said. “We moved Maisen back from midfield, and she has been doing a fantastic job and may be our most improved player. I have to give those girls credit.
“We will have to make our own luck (on Friday) and hope a couple bounces go our way,” Arney said. “ We need to take care of simple saves, forwards need to put the ball away when they get the chance, and we have to come up with something spectacular here or there and, hopefully, something good will happen.”