McALLEN — McAllen High head coach Patrick Arney walked off the field with his team at halftime and said to no one in particular, “That’s not good.”
His team held a 1-0 lead with a heavy wind at the Bulldogs’ back during the first half. Now it was Sharyland High’s turn.
Despite keeping the Rattlers off the scoreboard for more than 35 minutes during the second half, a screamer by Allyson Knobel from about 45 yards out hit nothing but the back of the net to tie the game and the Rattlers pulled off a victory in penalty kicks after ending the game in regulation tied at 1. It was the second time this season the Bulldogs, who came into the game having scored a Valley-high 69 goals in 12 district matches, fell in PKs, losing the district opener in the same fashion to McAllen Rowe.
The PK victory gives the Rattlers 29 points, while McAllen High remains atop an insanely tight district with 32 points and one game remaining, against Valley View.
Sharyland High defeated McHi 3-2 in regulation during the first round of District 31-5A.
McAllen Memorial moved into sole possession of second place with 30 points after defeating McAllen Rowe in PKs on Friday night. Rowe is tied with Sharyland for third place with 29 points.
During a match in which the crossbar and post were as much a part of the game as anyone on the field, McHi’s Briana Claudio scored just five minutes into the match for a 1-0 lead. McHi made several runs and fired at will throughout the first half but couldn’t connect. Julianna Millin, the team’s leading scorer, was shadowed all over the field, oftentimes by two defenders and kept quiet for most of the match, getting very few touches in any open space.
“We put a double stopper on No. 9 (Millin) for the first half but then changed it for the second half,” Sharyland High head coach Mario Ribera said. “We played more defensively in the first half. With a team like McHi you can’t just take them one-on-one. I mean, McHi is McHi. In the second, we went back to the 4-4-2 and took some risks. Sometimes you have to.”
The second half, however, was a completely different game, as foresaw by Arney at halftime. The Rattlers controlled much of the second half and, like McHi in the first half, had several opportunities but continued to come up blank. Then after a quick back-and-forth possession between the teams, Knobel rushed in after a rebound off a McHi player and launched the game-tying goal.
Just three minutes earlier, Knobel was playing sweeper.
“I was talking to my assistant coach and we decided to move her up to midfield and she just came in and got that rebound and put it in. She has come through for us,” Ribera said. “In the final five minutes against McAllen Memorial, she scored on a free kick. It’s just a great feeling.”
The Bulldogs countered whenever possible and on at least three occasions they had numbers on a breakaway. One of them, however, was called offsides and the other two ended with a shot wide and one off the more-than-invasive side post after Millin took the ball downfield, danced a pair of Rattlers stumbling off the ball, took a sidestep and let a shot rip.
McHi travels to Valley View, McAllen Memorial will play at Sharyland Pioneer, Sharyland High will host PSJA Memorial and McAllen Rowe will host PSJA Southwest on Monday to determine playoff positioning and a district champion. McHi can win its seventh straight district title with a regulation win over Valley View.