Liga MX Femenil recap: 2022 Clausura, Week 7

With the international break looming, teams across the league wanted to build momentum to return to after the window closed. Some did in rather convincing fashion, some may have been able to get moral victories, and others may feel like they left points on the table.

León 1, América 4: A dominant performance from América, downing León 4-1 in Guanajuato. León however struck first in the 24th minute on a Dani Calderón shot that froze Renata Masciarelli. América was stunned, and León had a couple of good chances but couldn’t convert on another opportunity before the end of the first half. The second half belonged to Scarlett Camberos, who scored her first of the evening in the 57th minute on a beautiful shot from the top of the box. Moments after being subbed on, Andrea Hernández picked up the first goal of her Liga MX Femenil career in the 63rd minute knocking in a pass from Katty Martínez. Martínez dished out another assist in the 73rd, springing Camberos down the left side. Camberos drove down and hit a rocket into the top of the net for her second of the evening. Camberos got the hat trick in the 77th when she got to a ball that looked like Martínez was going to get to, using “Katty Killer” as a screen. América remains in third place, keeping pace with the top of the pack.

Tigres UANL 2, Puebla F.C. 0: After a very un-Tigres start, Las Amazonas are back to their winning ways as they beat Puebla 2-0. Puebla to their credit but up a very solid defensive performance, and Siena Ruelas looked great in her third start in goal this season. Tigres broke through in the 17th minute when Uchenna Kanu got her head onto a cross that Mia Fishel tipped up into the air and into Kanu’s path. From that point, Puebla didn’t give much to Tigres, and the majority of their chances were more hopeful than dangerous. In the 48th, Stephany Mayor hit a header that hit off of the post, but it looked like had it been more on net Ruelas would have gotten to it. Kanu had a good look in the 56th from close range, but sent her shot over the bar. Fer Elizondo got an insurance goal in the 89th, getting her head onto a cross from Mayor in one of the rare defensive lapses by Puebla, who still sit toward the bottom of the table.

Club Tijuana 1, Pachuca 1: A good game between two pretty evenly matched teams. Esthefanny Barreras made two big saves in the 23rd, punching a ball before it got to a waiting Renae Cuéllar and then stopping the resulting shot from Dulce Alvarado. At the other end, Alejandra Gutiérrez came up big for Tijuana in the 24th minute, swatting a header from close range up and over the bar. Barreras made another fantastic save in the 26th on an arcing shot from Cuéllar. She couldn’t however stop Cuéllar from knocking in the resulting corner kick after it got lost in the mixer in the 27th. Just before the end of the first half, Gutiérrez made a stop on a close range blast. Pachuca started really pressing after the break, and finally broke through in the 72nd when Viridiana Salazar got onto a great ball from Charlyn Corral and fired it into the back of the net from the top of the box. Gutiérrez made another good stop in the 78th. this time on a Ruth Bravo shot through traffic. In the 84th, Yanin Madrid chested a shot off of the line after Barreras came out to try and punch it out. There were appeals for a handball, but replays showed that no call was the right call. With the result, Pachuca slips from second to fourth on the table while Tijuana stays in eighth place heading into the international break.

Gallos Blancos De Querétaro 2, Mazatlén FC 1: Querétaro continues to improve, beating Mazatlán 2-1 at Estadio Olímpico Alameda. Mazatlán scored first though when a ball into the box caused confusion and Jazmín Enrigue was charged with the autogol. The score remained level until the second half when it took seven seconds for Querétaro to come down and score. Daniela Sánchez took a pass into the box and knocked it past an out-of-position Nikol Ramos for the equalizer. Sánchez almost pulled off an incredible goal just a few minutes later chesting the ball and then taking a touch on it, putting it up and over an onrushing defender and hitting a shot before it hit the ground, but unfortunately it went just wide of the far post. Sánchez got her second goal in the 84th though, heading a nice cross from Maritza Maldonado in for the game winner.

Toluca 1, Monterrey 3: Rayadas continue their tear through the league, winning their sixth consecutive game by downing Toluca 3-1 at Estadio Nemesio Díez. Destinney Duron put the home side up however in the 12th minute, getting on the end of a long pass and chipping it up and over Claudia Lozoya. Duron almost had a second in the 16th when she again got a shot that Lozoya blocked. The rebound went to a wide-open Stef Baz, but she sent her shot into the stands. Monterrey leveled the match in the 36th when Christina Burkenroad got a square ball completely alone in the center of the box, knocking it in past Wendy Toledo. Then at the start of the second half Monterrey pulled ahead when Diana García got to a rebound after Toluca couldn’t clear the box and smashed it home. Then in the 84th it was Desirée Monsiváis getting to a ball that seemed to hang in the air forever, heading it home for the insurance goal. Monterrey is at the top of the table despite playing one less game than most other teams.

UNAM Pumas 1, Cruz Azul 1: A disappointing draw for Pumas, who by and large dominated the home match against cross-town rivals Cruz Azul. Pumas got on the board early when Daniela García cracked a shot from distance that hit off of the post in the ninth minute. The rebound went to Dania Padilla for an easy open net goal, her first of the season. García almost had another in the 20th minute when Paola Chavero nutmegged a defender and hit a pass to Padilla, who backheel flicked it on to García, but this time her shot rang off of the crossbar. At the other end in the 28th Cruz Azul had a real chance when Michelle Montero hit a shot from distance that was stopped by Melany Villeda. The rebound went straight to Paola López, but the ball got caught up in her feet and she went sprawling to the turf as the ball rolled harmlessly out of bounds. Cruz Azul really came to life in the second half, with Montero having a good chance with a header in the 60th that just missed. Karla Morales made a couple of good saves down the stretch to keep Cruz Azul in it, and then deep in stoppage time a free kick from deep in their own end found the head of Karime Abud, who headed it across to Dalia Molina. Molina somehow contorted her leg to hit the ball in past Villeda to get the visitors a point and keep Pumas from jumping past Atlas in the standings.

Atlas 1, Club Atlético de San Luis 1: Atlas also could have gained some more ground on the pack but drew San Luis 1-1 at home. Fabiola Ibarra put Atlas up in the ninth minute, playing a neat little give-and-go with Verónica Pérez before hitting a left-footed blast. Bea Parra equalized in stoppage time of the first half, staying onside long enough to get onto the end of a perfectly timed pass and knocking it in off of Ana Gaby Paz. Both Paz and Ivette Alvarado made big saves for their respective teams in the second half to give their teams an opportunity to grab a victory, but despite multiple chances neither side was able to find the game winner.

Guadalajara 1, Santos Laguna 0: A good game between two good teams. Both Blanca Félix and Paola Calderón played excellent games in goal, making key saves to keep their teams in the game. The pivotal moment however was in the 24th minute when Rubí Soto was brought down in the box by Brenda López. Licha Cervantes converted the penalty for her eighth goal of the season. Santos had a couple of opportunities in the second half, but couldn’t quite pull out the draw. Santos remains near the bottom of the table while Chivas keeps pace with Monterrey, one point behind Rayadas although Monterrey has a game in hand.

FC Juárez 2, Necaxa 3: Necaxa continues their upward trajectory, downing Juárez in the Borderland. Jasmine Casarez put the hosts up in the fourth minute with a powerful blast from the top of the box. Necaxa would have equalized in the 14th were it not for a Perla Navarrete chilena clearance off of the goal line. Juárez got a second goal in the 26th minute when in much like the Casarez goal Celeste Vidal was played in past the left side of the defense and hit a shot from almost the same spot past Daniela Muñoz. Necaxa shifted into another gear in the second half however. Saira López headed a free kick off of the crossbar in the 48th minute and then headed in the rebound to give Las Centellas a spark of hope. Necaxa drew level in the 86th on a Flor Rodríguez header off of a free kick, and then in stoppage Luciana Garcia Riefkohl was played through, hitting a shot top shelf to grab all three points for Necaxa in thrilling fashion.

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Sub 17 results

Week 6

Tigres UANL 1, Monterrey 2

Necaxa 2, Pachuca 2

Puebla F.C. 3, Toluca 2

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 2, UNAM Pumas 0

León 4, Club Atlético de San Luis 2

Santos Laguna 1, Atlas 3

Masatlén FC 0, Club Tijuana 1

FC Juárez 0, América 5

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Notes and other things

The Concacaf W Qualification tournament is underway as I finish writing this, and I hope this will help elevate the stature of and pique interest in a lot of countries in the confederation that don’t tend to get a lot of attention from media. It’s a little distressing that women’s soccer media by and large seems to be focusing more on friendly tournaments like the SheBelieves and Arnold Cup than a confederation sponsored tournament with real stakes. Hopefully this will change, because this tournament and these teams are deserving of value and respect.

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The Concacaf W Qualifications will all be available on Paramount+ streaming service. All games streaming live, although a subscription is required.

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Despite earlier reports having the Concacaf W Championship tournament in Guadalajara, Concacaf announced it would be held in Monterrey.

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Rachael Kriger of The Equalizer sat down with Bianca Sierra of Tigres for an interview.

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Jon Arnold interviews Kenwyne Jones, the former Premier League striker who now heads the Trinidad and Tobago WNT. Subscribe to his newsletter if you don’t already do so. Jon is an invaluable resource for all things Concacaf.

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Canada is looking for a Head of Professional Women’s Soccer, which hopefully means the start of a domestic league in Canada.

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Last but most certainly not least, congratulations are in order to Amelia Lopez and Adriana Terrazas on the 100th episode of the Our Fútbol podcast! This has been a pillar of the Liga MX Femenil in English community, and I’ve been honored to have been a guest on it a few times.

If you have something that should be included in this segment, please reach out to me via twitter or email me at golazodelgringo@gmail.com

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Next week (all records are in W-D-L format, all times as listed):

International break February 14-23

Saturday, February 19:

Puebla F.C U17 () vs. UNAM Pumas U17 () - 12:00 PM

Atlas U17 () vs. Tigres UANL U17 () - 3:45 PM

Guadalajara U17 () vs. Mazatlán FC U17 () - 3:45 PM

León U17 () vs. Santos Laguna U17 () - 3:45 PM

Sunday, February 20:

América U17 () vs. Necaxa U17 () - 11:00 AM

Pachuca U17 () vs. Gallos Blancos de Querétaro U17 () - 11:00 AM

Club Tijuana U17 () vs. Monterrey U17 () - 11:00 AM

FC Juárez U17 () vs. Cruz Azul U17 () - 1:45 PM