McALLEN — McAllen Memorial girls soccer head coach Matthew Kaiser told his team at halftime that Gregory-Portland would come out during the second half with a vengeance.
It did.
After Sofi Alaniz-Choy scored from in front of the goal off a Chloey Mejia corner kick early during the second half, Gregory-Portland rallied to tie the game and, eventually, claim a 4-2 overtime victory during Saturday’s Region IV-5A quarterfinal matchup at Boxer Hernandez Stadium at McAllen Memorial High School.
The win sends G-P to its second straight regional semifinal, also known as the Sweet 16, on Friday at the Cabaniss Sports Complex in Corpus Christi.
While the Mustangs were at home, there wasn’t much of a home field advantage as the sun peered out from behind the clouds and the heat and humidity skyrocketed during the second half and into overtime, comprised of two 10-minute periods played in its entirety. Between the opportunistic sun, the taller and possibly stronger, and the Mustangs’ first time playing the extra 20 minutes since District 31-5A doesn’t use the OT rule, the Wildcats were able to “ground-and-pound” and slow the fleet-footed Mustangs.
With Madisyn Sosa, one of the Mustangs’ top offensive weapons, not available, Kaiser made a risky move. Since the team has been playing so well in recent weeks, instead of moving players around, he called up JV Dark player Ava Casas to insert into Sosa’s spot. The JV Dark season has long been over and Casas just had a couple of practices to prepare herself for her first varsity game, starting in the regional quarterfinal.
About midway through the first, Kaiser’s move turned brilliant. Casas got the ball, dribbled it deep into G-P territory with confidence then, as two defenders closed in on her, she sent a pinpoint perfect through ball to Bethany Garr in stride. Garr then streaked past a defender, stopped the ball on a dime, made a quick fake move that sent the defender stumbling and scored the game’s first goal.
“That was such a good play by Ava,” Garr said. “Then I got there and the goal was right there in front of me, almost made me nervous.”
The Mustangs controlled a ball about 65% of the first half, once they adjusted to a larger and very physical G-P team. That physicality, which Memorial met with equally physical play, eventually along with all the other factors, wore the Mustangs down.
“In looking back, the only thing that changed was the sun came out. It got hot very quickly and both teams slowed things down, which was good for Gregory-Portland,” Kaiser said. “We hadn’t played OT all season; our district isn’t set up that way. So to ask these kids to play 20 more minute for the first time and in a high-pressure situation, that’s hard.”
G-P goalkeeper Sydney Kuzma also played a factor. One of the top keepers in the region with wide lateral range and a strong vertical jump, Kuzma kept Alaniz-Choy from scoring on one of her patented 30- to 50-yard bombs to the top corner of the goal. Instead, Kuzma was ready for those shots, which most keepers haven’t been able to accomplish this year.
“It’s been a great year and it was a great surprise for us that we were able to mesh the way we did in district,” said Kaiser, whose team finished one point behind McAllen High for the district championship. “The preseason was a combination of unlucky moments. We played some great teams and our record didn’t look great but we were potentially a good team.
“Once it all settled down and everyone was there, things started to mesh quickly.”