NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
McALLEN — McAllen High was without top forward Sophia Soto, but the Bulldogs still looked dangerous against San Antonio Taft in the McAllen ISD Showcase. The teams played to a 1-1 draw on Friday at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in a game that saw plenty of opportunities, chippy play and solid defending.
Despite losing 60-plus goal scorer Anna Hover to graduation, McHi hopes to put the ball in the net just as often as it did a season ago.
From the opening whistle, the Bulldogs were the aggressors, keeping most of the play in the Raiders’ half of the field.
Finally, on a free kick earned after a solid run of play, the Bulldogs’ golden chance on the rush turned into a brilliant kick by Zoe Flores to the corner of the net, out of the reach of Taft’s keeper. Whether the ball trickled over the goal line initially was unclear, but Paola Alvarez was in position to tuck it home if not.
“(Coach Pat) Arney is always telling us, ‘Aim for the corners. Aim for the corners.’ And this time, I was definitely aiming for the corner and got lucky that it hit the pole,” Flores said of her free kick. “I was definitely listening to my coach, and he’s a great coach. We’re just working together.”
The Bulldogs are without a loss in three matches and have only surrendered one goal.
“We’ve all been working together so hard,” Flores said. “Day trainings, before school, after school. And I think it really helps that we all grew up together. Now that we’re playing as a team, not just depending on one person and moving the ball around, it really does help our team blend.”
The lone goal from Taft came from star sophomore Adrianna Hutson, who has been filling the score sheet all tournament. The midfielder utilized her speed on a quick outside run and beat keeper Mellie Garza one on one.
Garza was in net while starting keeper Lexi Gonzalez was playing defense to fill in for an injured starter. Garza played a strong game, stopping multiple opportunities by charging the ball and diving at the edge of the box.
“You’ve got to adapt. Somebody else has got to step up,” Arney said. “And that’s what’s great about this team, is we have girls that are stepping up that I thought two months ago maybe, maybe not, but they’ve come through, and they’ve showed what they can do with flying colors.”
McAllen continued to have the better of the chances as time went on, but the back lines from both teams refused to give in when they were beat by defenders. Both teams had instances in which a defender would catch a forward from behind to disrupt a play.
McHi’s Ava Alaniz was creative on the ball in space and seemed to always be either sparking a run or finding a teammate. She looks to be a key facilitator and offensive threat when the team has all its tools in form and healthy.
“I really have to congratulate the girls on playing really good team soccer, against a quality team like that. We’re excited,” Arney said. “We’re excited about this season.”
Scott Davis of Taft spoke to McAllen’s team after the match to thank them for a hard-fought game and wish them luck going forward.
Davis has been bringing his team into this tournament for more than 10 years. San Antonio Warren is another program visiting the Valley to participate in the showcase.
“There may be some teams in San Antonio that don’t respect the Valley teams,” Davis said. “And you’ve seen what’s happened with the boys the last 10 years, and how they’ve dominated at regionals and the style that they play. I’ve seen it move over to the girls, where the girls are so much better than they were even five years ago. I think teams are missing a great opportunity by not coming down here and seeing a style that emulates the boys, and that honestly scares me.”
McAllen faces Warren at noon today to wrap up its play in the showcase.