Describing McAllen High midfielder Melanie Sal as a soccer player is as formidable a task as trying to get past her on the pitch.
On paper, she plays midfield and defense. In fact, her play in those positions for the Bulldogs have earned her The Monitor’s 2021 All-Area Girls Soccer Defensive Player of the Year.
But, in reality, the senior who has signed to continue her academic and athletic career at Southwestern University was so much more than that for McHi this year en route to an undefeated District 31-5A crown and a trip to the Region IV-5A semifinals, also known as the Sweet 16.
“She’s just a good athlete,” McHi girls soccer head coach Patrick Arney said. “She’s fast, agile, she dribbles well, can shoot and pass. She played wing, sweeper, stepper, center mid, even forward a few times this year.”
“When you look at her, you may underestimate her but she’s a superior athlete with a great soccer IQ.”
Saldaña was not only a critical element in the Bulldogs’ defense, but she was also a key for the offense, being the person who usually collected the ball from a defender, or stole it from the other team,
Arney calls that on the very few times an opposing player got past her, she would “kick it up a notch” and more often than not run that offensive player down, steal the ball and turn around to kick-start the offense.
“One time we played a team where that happened and she tracked the player down and took the ball up the field and down the middle,” Arney said. “Then she went past everyone and had a breakaway on the goalie. We would see stuff like that from her all the time.
Saldaña, however, takes a low-key approach to her role, even though she knows how important it is. She said that playing offense most of her life helped her understand the role and made it more enjoyable.
“I guess sometimes people don’s see me as a threat,” she said. “But I know my role and that’s for me to get the ball from the defense and getting it to the midfield. My role is more half and half — offense and defense.”
Saldaña only scored once this year but dished out more than 20 assists on the season. She was also a major threat with corner kicks, gaining several of those assists from there. She also was a “control freak” in the Bulldogs’ controlling style of play, more often than not touching the ball more than anyone else on the team, working with Chloe Fallek and Hayley Nixon in a triangle to open gaps in the defense and either scoring, or finding someone with a through ball who ended up scoring.
“All those things just made her such a bigger threat,” Arney said. “She was the complete package. She is so fast, she could cover so much ground. It’s what you want in the middle of the field. It just seems like she was everywhere all the time.”
While her ball control skills and ability to take the ball seemingly at will from most opponents is what most people see most of the times, Saldaña is also no easy pushover and will use her physicality if necessary.
“Opponents look at her and maybe think she’s just an athlete, but she can be a physical player too. She did it at Cedar Park and there were a few times when she used that physicality to knock someone down, legally. Nothing cheap or dirty. She won’t back down. She really is the complete package.
“Now I need to find another one to replace her.”