McALLEN — Milan Diaz ricocheted a blistering shot off a defender’s leg and into the corner of the net for the only goal of the game, and McHi downed McAllen Memorial 1-0 in a battle of two scorching hot teams in District 31-5A on Tuesday at McAllen Memorial.
McHi has now won 11 straight since a district-opening loss to McAllen Rowe. It was its second win over Memorial, which had won nine straight since that 3-2 loss to McHi earlier this season.
The Bulldogs are 11-1 in district and, by virtue of their win over Memorial and Sharyland High defeating Edinburg Vela, hold a six-point advantage over those three teams. Memorial, Vela and Sharyland are all 9-3 with six district games remaining.
“I can’t give that defensive unit enough praise,” McHi head coach Pat Arney said. “Especially when Memorial had the wind in the first half and they had us scrambling. They were throwing bodies at it and getting after it.”
Diaz took a cross-field pass from Gabby Gonzalez and sidestepped around a first defender, then took a left-footed quick, low shot with 20:06 remaining. “When you shoot quick, low and strong, good things are going to happen,” Arney said.
While it was the only goal, it was far from the only offense. McHi took several shots during spells when it was controlling the ball and the tempo, winning more of the 50-50 balls than losing them. Memorial looked strong time and again with long passes and quick counterattacks.
But both defenses, and both goalkeepers, kept their teams in the match.
Sofia Alaniz-Choy took over in goal after Memorial’s starting goalie was injured and taken out of the match during a collision in the box. Alaniz-Choy, with a powerful leg and a key cog especially in set pieces, played exceptionally in shutting down the explosive McHi offense.
Likewise, Karla Paredes, Haley Nixon and goalkeeper Allison Tamil stepped up with the rest of the Bulldogs’ defense to stifle Memorial’s big offensive weapons in Chloey Mejia and freshman Kennedy Kaiser, who had scored 17 goals in just seven district games going into Tuesday’s match.
“The girls just showed a ton of character against a great team that was as hot as Memorial was coming in,” Arney said. “It’s what we needed.”