BY KEVIN LU | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — McAllen Memorial’s girls soccer team shut outBrownsville Hanna 2-0 in a non-district match Tuesday at McAllen Memorial High School.
The Lady Mustangs (10-1) got scores from Connie Avila and Leslie Flores in their first game since a loss to Los Fresnos during the Brownsville ISD tournament last weekend.
“We really didn’t allow too many chances for Hanna,” Mustangs coach Matthew Kaiser said. “We still missed a lot of opportunities … I really felt like we were in control of the game.”
Memorial opened the scoring about midway through the first half when Daisy Robles sent a ball toward goal that a Hanna defender misplayed. Avila sneaked inside the defender and fired a right-footed shot that glanced off the keeper’s hands and into the far left post for a 1-0 Mustangs lead.
Memorial dominated possession during the first half, but allowed Hanna several good opportunities to equalize close to halftime. Off the first corner kick of the match for either team, Hanna took a rebound with 8 minutes left in the half and Adrienne Davis flicked a ball backwards that hit the crossbar.
A few minutes later, Eagles junior Frida Palomo shot toward goal and it bounced off the crossbar again.
During the second half, Robles found Flores in the middle of the penalty box about five minutes in. Flores showed nice touch as she got around a defender and fired into the corner for the match’s finally tally.
“What makes Leslie special is she’s able to put it into that side net, in the corner … unsavable ball for the keeper,” Kaiser said. “Not a lot of girls can do that. A lot of girls get big eyes and they see that goal and they try to blast it and it goes right into the keeper’s hands … she finished it off like we expect her to.”
Robles was the only player for either side to get a yellow card after she knocked an Eagles player down during the second half. Hanna had four corner kicks and Memorial had three.