McALLEN — Xochitl Nguma had the ball in her possession with a defender on her. She started, stopped, played with the ball like it was an extension of her leg, crossed over to her left foot and let the shot fly.
1-0, Sharyland High.
But the girl who has scored more than 150 goals in her career isn’t all that the Rattlers have, and McAllen Memorial saw that up close Tuesday night as four different players scored five goals during the first half and the state’s second-ranked Class 5A team, according to the Texas Girls Coaches Association, claimed an 8-1 victory over the Mustangs in a Class 31-5A battle between two of the district’s top teams.
Chloe Ribera scored twice during the first half and Sharyland led 3-0 in the game’s first 16 minutes. She added a third goal in the second half and Nguma scored a second one in the final 40 minutes, as well. Clarissa Gonzalez also scored twice and Yhoalibeth Alvarez added a goal for the Rattlers.
Freshman Madisyn Sosa scored the lone goal for the Mustangs.
Nguma is coming off a season in which she scored a jaw-dropping 68 goals as a junior. Last week, she passed Katie Watson as the school’s all-time leading scorer at 146.
After Nguma’s poetic like goal less than two minutes into the game. Ribera struck twice, the second goal, a screamer that came in low and fast from about 32 yards and slipped through the goalkeeper’s hands.
Memorial (1-1 in district) showed some offensive spurts, using their speed and some passing to take some stabs at scoring. For about a 10-minute span during the first half, they dominated possession and made several runs at the goal but only were able to come up with a couple shots on target. The Mustangs showed they had the speed and the ball skill to play with the Rattlers, but they couldn’t find the back of the next.
“They were fast, but didn’t have someone to finish,” Sharyland High head coach Mario Ribera said. “But they do produce and the cross the ball and had some chances. I thought we controlled the middle and the back and don’t think they knew to what extent we were able to do what with the ball.
“I scouted them and knew they had a strong midfielder, and we knew coming into this game if we could control the defensive middle we would have opportunities for Xochi, Yhoalibeth and Chloe,” Sharyland High head coach Mario Ribera said. “We like to spread the field out and attack and get out front. Fortunately, we were able to score early and that gave us the confidence to continue moving the ball.”
Sharyland had no problem finding the back of the net, however, in the first 40 minutes. The Rattlers struck twice more in the half, the final one coming on a shot from Alvarez, a freshman, from the far right side of the box, all away across the goal and into the back post side of the net with 13:19 remaining in the half.
“That was a beautiful goal,” Ribera said. “She has the leg and she puts them in. For a freshman to come in and start, that’s something. And she is something.”
The win improved Sharyland High to 11-0 overall and 2-0 in the district. The Rattlers play at McAllen Rowe at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Rowe defeated Valley View on Tuesday and is 1-1 in district play. Memorial fell to 1-1 in the district and will play at home against PSJA Southwest.