McALLEN — San Antonio Taft scored three times in the first 11 minutes of the first half en route to a convincing 5-1 victory Friday over McAllen Memorial during the second day of the 25th annual McAllen ISD Girls Soccer Showcase at McAllen Memorial.
Bella Galan scored on a shot from about 18 yards four minutes into the game and Layla Rangel followed with a header from inside the box four minutes later. Jessiny Aguillon closed the first half of scoring with a an uncontested left-footed shot from less than 10 yards for a 3-0 lead.
Playing without a couple of injured starters, including returning leading scorer Chloey Mejia, it took until about 10 minutes remained in the first half before Memorial had its first real attack inside Taft’s box. After that, the Mustangs played a tighter match with the Raiders.
“This was more of a learning experience for these girls than anything else,” Memorial head coach Matthew Kaiser said. “ When we’re down or when things are tough, the girls saw today and some will have to carry more weight.”
Sofia Davila scored in the second half for the Mustangs.
Kaiser said they were hoping to win the flip and get the wind behind them but that didn’t happen, and it seemed that Taft took advantage of that wind and its team speed to surprise the young Mustangs until they made some adjustments.
“Sometimes you’re going to play teams that are better than you in more places than you’re ready for,” Kaiser said. “Still, we had some opportunities. This is a young team, and one of the thing about young teams is they can be emotional. When something goes well it can be a multiplier, but when something doesn’t go so well, unfortunately, that can be a multiplier as well. That will change as they gain experience and maturity.”
Memorial tied its first game Thursday, 1-1, with Corpus Christi Calallen. The Mustangs play at home at 1 p.m. today during the final day of the showcase.
At McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium, Milan Diaz scored three times, Juliana Millin and Savanna Ruiz each scored twice and Gabby Gonzalez added a goal as the Bulldogs cruised to an 8-0 win over Flour Bluff. McHi plays at home at 11 a.m. today against Calallen.
At McAllen Rowe, Mia Mata, Sophia San Miguel, Ayloni Garcia and Camila Gil each scored in a 4-3 win over San Antonio Warren. The Warriors play at 11 a.m. today at home against Edinburg North.
2023 McAllen ISD
Girls Soccer Showcase
Thursday, Jan. 5
At McAllen High Stadium
McAllen High 3. Harlingen South 1
San Antonino Warren 6, Edinburg North 1
San Antonio Taft 1, Harlingen High 0
At McAllen Memorial
McAllen Memorial 1, Calallen 1
Los Fresnos 1, Edinburg Economedes 0
At McAllen Rowe
Flour Bluff 3, Donna North 0
Sn Antonio O’Connor 6, McAllen Rowe 1
Friday, Jan. 6
At McAllen High Stadium
McAllen High 8, Flour Bluff 0
Calallen 1, Harlingen South 0
San Antonio O’Connor 5, Los Fresnos 0
At McAllen Memorial
San Antonio Taft 5, McAllen Memorial 1
Harlingen High 4, Edinburg North 0
At McAllen Rowe
McAllen Rowe 4, San Antonio Warren 3
Edinburg Economedes 0, Donna North 0
Saturday, Jan. 7
At McAllen High Stadium
Edinburg Economedes vs. San Antonio Warren, 9 a.m.
McAllen High vs. Calallen, 11 a.m.
At McAllen Memorial
Harlingen High vs. San Antonio O’Connor, 9 a.m.
Flour Bluff vs. Harlingen South, 11 a.m.
McAllen Memorial vs. Donna North, 1 p.m.
At McAllen Rowe
San Antonio Taft vs. Los Fresnos, 9 a.m.
McAllen Rowe vs. Edinburg North, 11 a.m.