When last year’s girls high school season was abruptly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McAllen High head coach Patrick Arney knew he had one major question to answer for this year’s season.
What will be the Bulldogs’ identity moving forward? With no traveling and very little time before practice begins and the season starts, the biggest goal was for the team to find out who they were and what type of team they could become.
The team graduated three seniors from last year’s powerhouse team to Division I universities — Houston, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
They also saw three others who Arney believes could have easily moved on to the next level but decided not to continue playing in college. Most teams would’ve begun the rebuilding process. Many teams would’ve collapsed.
McHi won the District 31-5A title.
“We had played the style of those girls for the past three years and everybody worked into their system,” Arney said. “This group was going to have to find their identity. I knew what we had as far as the core group and the strength of that group but we just didn’t get to see each other until the season almost started. But they’ve stepped up from our goalie Grace Kelly to our freshmen and sophomores.”
But even then, he didn’t realize how strong a season his Bulldogs would put together, a season many coaches couldn’t fathom having a year with that many graduating stars. In summary, here’s how is ended: District champs for the sixth straight year, an 18-0 record, ranked most of the year in the top 10 in the state according to the Texas Girls Coaches Association and now with eyes on another run to the state tournament.
“The biggest hurdle for sure was losing six of our best players. We realized we still had a core of very good players and we decided that we needed to regroup and continue playing at the level that we did at the end of las year,” senior defender Melanie Saldana said. “I think we can go really far this year.”
That quest begins at 7 p.m. Thursday on the road against District 32-5A’s fourth-place Edcouch-Elsa Yellow Jackets.
Henderson leads the team in goals this year with 23, usually using her speed to blaze down the sideline track down a through pass and find herself one on one with the goalkeeper. Junior Briana Claudio has 18 goals and Chloe Fallek has found the back of the net 15 times. The team outscored its opponents this year 106-9, using pinpoint accurate passing, ball possession and a multitude of offensive looks and ways to attack.
“I think this year we’re not as dependent on individuals to carry us,” Henderson said. “Each one of us is more comfortable carrying more of a load. As the season has gone along, I have noticed that all of my teammates are very comfortable in our own roles, whether it be defensively or offensively. We are all very unselfish and ultimately just focused on winning.”
Other District 31-5A versus 32-5A matches include McAllen Memorial at Brownsville Porter at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sharyland High at Brownsville Veterans at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and Brownsville Lopez at McAllen Rowe at 6:30 p.m. Friday.