Lexi Gonzalez had a decision to make.
She was already committed to Oregon St. to play volleyball.
But she felt so right on the soccer field — her second home — and, especially, in goal.
After an internal struggle and much self-debate, she approached her mom and said, “I think I want to play soccer instead.” Her mom was a little stunned but jumped on board and soccer became the goal.
First, however, she needed to tell the coaches at Oregon St.
“It would have been disrespectful and not right to not tell them,” Gonzalez said. “I didn’t go to any camps until after I told them.”
Good decisions seem to be the norm for Gonzalez, especially in the sports arena whether she’s playing soccer or volleyball. Those decisions during the soccer season led McHi to a 20-2 record and a ranking among the top five in the state, according to TopDrawerSoccer.com. Because of her performance during the 2019-20 season, Gonzalez has been named The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
Gonzalez, who plans to sign later this month with the nationally ranked University of Arkansas soccer program, allowed just seven goals all year. She’s definitely glad she made her decision to pursue a future in soccer.
“Something changed in me, and on the field I realized that I would miss playing soccer. It was a part of me,” Gonzalez said. “During the soccer season (her junior year) is when I realized that this is what I want to do for the next four years and more. It was a difficult decision but I’m glad I made it.”
Gonzalez, who was also The Monitor’s All-Area Volleyball Player of the Year, had an electric year in goal for the Bulldogs, becoming the first team to advance to the state semifinals during her sophomore season.
During a game against Katy Tompkins, the then-ranked No. 2 team in the nation and a former No. 1 team the year prior, Gonzalez saved attempt after attempt from the powerhouse team. She suffered two injuries during that match. The first was during a corner kick when Gonzalez and a player from Katy hit heads. Gonzalez went down and had to be taken out for a short while based on concussion protocol.
The second time she came out of the game was following getting kicked/spiked in the ankle. She went down to the ground but popped back up trying to avoid being taken out. It didn’t work, and she was sent back to the sidelines by the officials. In the two minutes she waited to return, Tompkins scored the only goal of the match and won 1-0.
“I was so proud of our team to play against a team with so many talented players and stay with them like we did,” Gonzalez said. “I felt like I was in the zone for that match, as well. That game was one of the best I ever played. I felt so healthy. I didn’t want anything to go into the goal and was diving all over the place.”
Gonzalez, who gave up just seven goals and had 16 shutouts this year (and scored four goals as well), compared this season’s team to the team that advanced to state two years ago. She said the year after going to state was a heavy learning year.
“We definitely learned a lot from that season,” she said. “We went in strong but didn’t play our best in the last game (a playoff loss to Harlingen South). It was a good lesson for us and we talked about it and watched film to see what we could so that it didn’t happen again our senior year.”
It didn’t. The COVID-19 pandemic hit South Texas like it has most of the world and took with it graduations, jobs and all high school sports. McHi had one regular season game remaining before starting the playoffs.
“It was sad the way it all ended, especially right before the playoffs,” Gonzalez said. “This team recovered from last season and we were really hoping to make another deep run in the playoffs.
After four amazing years in which Gonzalez dominated in two sports, she said one of the keys to being successful is keeping a positive attitude.
“You’re going to fail at times but you need to pick yourself up from all those obstacles you’re going to go through and handle the pressure when it’s on,” she said. “But always stay positive and keep a good attitude.”
And, like Gonzalez, make the right choices.