Great Goals
Before anyone could lay claim as the Valley’s new all-time girls soccer scoring leader, the then-current record holder had to be found.
Then Xochitl Nguma shattered the record and is now the Rio Grande Valley’s all-time goals leader in girls soccer.
After scoring 57 goals this season, Nguma not only demolished the record with 186 for her career, but she’s also earned The Monitor’s 2021 Girls Soccer Co-Offensive Player of the Year. Ironically, after following the trail to confirm who was at the top of that list, it circled all the way back to Sharyland High and Katie Watson who, during her senior year, ended her career with 146 goals. During that senior year, Nguma was Watson’s freshman teammate.
“It was quite the duo to have,” Sharyland High girls soccer head coach Mario Ribera said. “I think Katie helped Xochi quite a bit and when Xochi became more comfortable, they just became such a threat. Katie saw that Xochi could be quite the player, so it pushed Katie and Xochi saw how good Katie was and it made her work hared and more.
Nguma said that her first impression of Watson was of a girl who was so mature and “looked to well put together,” Nguma said. “She had great grades, was amazing at soccer and she was always so well dressed for the occasion. She always knew what she was doing and I wanted to be as well put together as her.”
Nguma said she wished she would have been more outspoken back as a freshman. However, Nguma was a young freshman — just 14 at the time — and was nervous about talking to the older girls, and intimidated.
As the season ran on, the two warmed up to each other, making their onslaught of opponents even more intense. During that year, Nguma said Watson was a big influence on the future offensive megastar.
“There was a non-district game we played and we were losing. Katie scored a goal to tie the game and I couldn’t get past the defenders, but she could,” Nguma said. “I needed to be able to do what she is doing so that people could depend on me like they could depend on her.”
She accepted that challenge, and that challenge prepare her for two most challenges, one of them unprecedented in the RGV, one of them unprecedented around the world — the race for the all-time scoring crown, and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively.
“I have an elderly family member that lives with me in my house,” Nguma said. “My fear was that I would go to practice and have a teammate or someone who wouldn’t take care of themselves and I could catch it and take the virus back to the house and would spread it to the people I love. I would hear so many stories in the other sports at my school and I would come home from practice, immediately take a shower and always wear my mask, to be extra cautious.”
Nguma, Edinburg Vela’s Taylor Campbell and Donna North’s Gabby Aviles all surpassed Watson’s then-record. As the season continued toward playoffs, the “chase” started to surround the girls. More people wanted to see who those three athletes were who were putting up video-game numbers in goals scored.
Nguma said there was no escape from it. One teammate was keeping detailed information on each goal Nguma scored and it became a daily quest from fans, friends and others who wanted to know who was winning the chase.
“It was very overwhelming. I didn’t expect it to reach out to so many people,” she said. “I was overcome with so many emotions. People I didn’t know people would take watch over who and how many goals and they would come to the games. Knowing this just pushed me more. I didn’t want to let my team down. We were getting publicity and people wanted to come and see.”
Nguma doesn’t like attracting attention, but her actions on the field demand it. As the season neared the end, even opponents would bring up the chase during a match.
“I never really kept up on the goals but it was in the back of my mind, especially with the other girls competing and wondering how close they are or who was next to me,” Nguma said. “People would tell me so-and-so is catching you. It was really nerve-racking.
“Some people would even bring it up on the field — ‘Aren’t you the girl who is supposed to be doing all that scoring and stuff?’ I would think, ‘Now they’re expecting a good game.’”
And, most of those times in response, Nguma would respond with as much, or more, than they were expecting.