Liga MX Femenil recap: 2022 Clausura, Week 5

The second leg of a doble jornada is always interesting. Teams aren’t usually used to playing multiple games in a week, so the final game is always a test of endurance and willpower. There were some very good games however, with plenty of close calls and golazos and a couple of teams picking up their very first win of the year.

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Toluca 1, Pachuca 3: Pachuca continues their hot run of form, downing Toluca 3-1 at Estadio Nemesio Díez. It didn’t look like it was going to be as dominant a performance from Pachuca, as Toluca seemed to have scored 38 seconds into the match. Diana Guatemala fed a through ball to Destinney Duron and Duron hit a shot into the back of the net, but the play was correctly ruled offside and the goal annulled. Pachuca made them pay when in the sixth minute Mónica Ocampo got a touch onto a short corner that was absolutely perfect, going in off of the underside of the bar. Charlyn Corral doubled the lead four minutes later when she ripped a shot from outside of the box inside of the far post. Ten minutes later Toluca drew one back though when Karen Becerril hit a rocket from even further out than Corral’s golazo. Toluca looked to have equalized in the 48th minute but for a goal line clearance by Karen Díaz, although replays suggested the ball may have crossed the line. Just as in the first half, Pachuca would capitalize on this when in the 60th minute Corral got her brace on a perfectly executed free kick. With the win, Pachuca went to the top of the table, albeit only for the day, ending the week in third place overall.

Atlas 1, Puebla F.C. 0: Puebla played well, but ultimately it was Atlas coming away with all three points on the afternoon. Puebla goalkeeper Brissa Rangel played well, making several big stops to keep Puebla in it. Unfortunately though Rangel was credited with an autogol on the game’s only tally, knocking in a Karen García shot that hit off of the far post and bounced off of Rangel’s head and into the net in the 67th minute. Rangel made two more great saves against Adriana “Boyi” Iturbide in the 72nd minute and again in the 85th minute. Defensively, Atlas was rarely tested with Ana Gaby Paz rarely being called to do much. With the win, Atlas moves back into a Liguilla position while Puebla sinks to the bottom of the table.

América 3, Necaxa 0: A dominant performance by América, although Necaxa held their own during the first half. Lupita Olvera made a good stop in the sixth minute on a shot from Mayra Pelayo and again in the 28th on a shot from Scarlett Camberos. América finally broke through in the 51st on a golazo from Katty Martínez, flipping the ball up with her right foot before smashing it in on the volley with her left. Ten minutes later Olvera committed an autogol when Sarah Luebbert hit a tight-angle shot at her that she bobbled and swung into the back of the net. Then in the 67th Dani Espinosa hit a shot from distance that Olvera misplayed, and after the goal Olvera was replaced in net by Daniela Muñoz. Muñoz made a fantastic save on a header in the waning moments of the match, but it was far too little, far too late.

FC Juárez 1, Monterrey 3: Juárez continues to improve, but Rayadas are among the class of the league and came from behind to grab a 3-1 win over Las Bravas. Celeste Vidal put Juárez up in the 18th minute when she fought off Valeria Del Campo to get to a nice pass forward and blast it into the top of the net. Rayadas equalized nine minutes later however when Yamile Franco played a nice ball over the top for Rebeca Bernal, who chested it dow, fought off a defender, and hit a right-footed chip shot into the back of the net. Then in the 35th some confusion among the Juárez defense allowed Rayadas midfielder Diana García to muscle her way in and chip a ball up and over Juárez goalkeeper Diana García to pull Rayadas ahead for good. Aylin Aviléz then arced a shot up and over García from just inside of the box for her second goal in as many games in the 41st minute to put the game out of reach. Juárez almost pulled one back deep in stoppage time in the second half but Alex Godínez made a great stop on a sliding shot from Miah Zuazua. Rayadas are still perfect, however because they have played one less game than most other teams are in second place on the table.

Guadalajara 1, Cruz Azul 0: Another good game between a perennial power and an up-and-coming team that was determined by a slim margin. Both Chivas and Cruz Azul played well, and this game could have gone either way. There was a bit of a scary moment in the 33rd when Claudia Cid and Miriam García clashed heads on a corner kick and needed medical attention. Both were thankfully able to continue. Chivas broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute when Rubí Soto played a wonderful ball forward for Licha Cervantes into the box, and Licha did well to beat Itzayana González with her shot. While Cruz Azul players were adamant Cervantes was offside, replays confirmed the AR was right not to raise the flag. González made a fantastic save at the edge of the box to deny Licha a second goal in the 62nd minute and made another good save in the 85th minute to give her team a chance to come back, but Chivas held on to remain atop the table.

León 4, Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 2: A wild one in Guanajuato as León get their first win of the season. Alondra Camargo put Querétaro on the board first in the 14th, finishing a great sequence of passes with a good finish. Dani Calderón equalized just before halftime with a nice shot from the top of the box. Fátima Bracamonte put León up in the 60th minute with a great shot from the top of the box that went in off of the underside of the crossbar. Dani Calderón got her second of the evening in the 76th when a poor defensive play found her with the ball at her feet from close to the penalty spot and she did not miss. Sonia Vázquez drew one back for Querétaro in the 88th minute when a set piece into the mixer couldn’t be cleared out and she was able to knock it home, But Calderón got her hat-trick in stoppage time when she drilled a free kick from distance into the top far corner.

UNAM Pumas 4, Santos Laguna 0: Statement win from Pumas, dominating the second half to beat Santos 4-0. Pumas looked like they had scored in the ninth minute off of a free kick, but Dani Padilla was ruled to have been offside and the goal disallowed. Replays however seemed to show Padilla well onside when the ball was put into play. Both teams had some decent chances but it was Pumas who broke through in the 65th minute when Deneva Cagigas capitalized on Nicole Buenfil bobbling a save to knock the rebound home. Paola Chavero doubled the lead two minutes later when she chipped Buenfil, got her own rebound, and smashed it into the empty net. Fabi Santamaria capitalized on another mistake by Buenfil in the 77th, knocking the ball in after Buenfil’s attempt to punch the ball out was late and missed. Then with time expiring Catherine Rodríguez was played in behind the Santos line and scored her first goal of her career.

Mazatlán FC 1, Club Atlético de San Luis 0: Mazatlán also picked up their first win of the season, beating San Luis 1-0 at El Kraken. The game changing moment was in the 41st when Ana Karen López pulled down Connie Caliz in the box. Caliz converted the penalty for the game’s only goal. San Luis had a couple of opportunities to equalize down the stretch but simply couldn’t convert.

Club Tijuana 1, Tigres UANL 1: A good result for Tijuana, keeping Tigres to a goal and getting the 1-1 draw. Stephany Mayor put Tigres up in the 12th minute when she finished an incisive counterattack with a shot from the top of the box. Uchenna Kanu almost scored three minutes later but her shot went just wide of the net. Tijuana equalized however in the 23rd minute on a Joselyn De La Rosa header off of a corner kick. Kanu almost had another goal in the 63rd minute but her close range touch hit off of the post. Renae Cuéllar almost added one more to Tijuana late, chesting down a ball and trying to chip Ceci Santiago, but Santiago was able to tip it up into the air and grab it before it hit the ground. These two teams put on a good performance, and hopefully we’ll see them match up again in the Liguilla.

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Sub 17 results

Week 4

Tigres UANL 1, Club Tijuana 1

Toluca 2, UNAM Pumas 1

Santos Laguna 3, Guadalajara 0

Club Atlético de San Luis 0, Atlas 1

Monterrey 0, Mazatlán FC 1

Pachuca 1, América 1

FC Juárez 0, Necaxa 0

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Notes and other things

The National Women’s Soccer League Player’s Association ratified their first ever collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which was then agreed upon by the league. This is such a huge moment for labor, and not just in women’s soccer spaces. My friends at All For XI did a great rundown of what the CBA entails, and I’m hopeful this serves as a model for players everywhere to unionize and collectively bargain better standards.

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Former Tigres midfielder Stefany Ferrer transferred to Angel City FC, which is definitely a good thing for both clubs and the player. The unusual thing about this was that the transaction was conducted using cryptocurrency. While there are significant issues with crypto (everything from the environmental impact to the further creation of income inequality), this transaction makes sense in so far as there were no conversion penalties from pesos to dollars.

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Katty Martínez may be the first bona fide superstar from Liga MX Femenil. Fans mobbed her car as she was leaving Coapa after their win against Necaxa on Monday. While I worry about the safety of the fans and the player in these sorts of interactions, it is cool seeing this level of passion from fans.

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Necaxa fired head coach Jesús Palacios after their 1-1-3 start.

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Congratulations are in order for Tigres’ Uchenna Kanu, who was named to the Nigeria squad that will face Côte d’Ivoire.

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Argentina’s Copa Federal women’s tournament starts today.

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St. Kitts and Nevis federation president Atiba Harris appointed former Barbados head coach Ahmed Mohamed as a coach in September, despite Mohamed leaving Barbados after 27 players signed a letter urging FIFA to investigate Mohamed for the alleged rape of an 18 year old teammate.

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One of the best stories to emerge out of the Asian Cup has been the Philippines, who qualified for their first ever World Cup by eliminating Chinese Taipei in penalties. What a moment, and congratulations!

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):

Friday, February 4:

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (1-1-2) vs. Guadalajara (4-1-0) - 5:00 PM - TVC Deportes (Mexico)

Mazatlán FC (1-2-2) vs. Tigres UANL (2-2-0) - 8:00 PM - TVP (Mexico)

Saturday, February 5:

UNAM Pumas U17 (1-2-1) vs. Pachuca U17 (1-2-0) - 10:00 AM

Cruz Azul (2-1-2) vs. América (3-1-1) - 12:00 PM - TUDN (United States and Mexico)

Toluca U17 (3-0-0) vs. Cruz Azul U17 (1-1-1) - 12:00 PM

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro U17 (0-0-3) vs. FC Juárez U17 (0-2-0) - 3:45 PM

Necaxa U17 (0-1-2) vs. Puebla F.C. U17 (1-0-2) - 3:45 PM

Sunday, February 6:

Club Atlético de San Luis U17 (2-0-2) vs. Santos Laguna U17 (3-0-0) - 10:00 AM

Monterrey U17 (0-0-4) vs. León U17 (0-0-3) - 10:00 AM

Mazatlán FC U17 (1-0-2) vs. UANL Tigres U17 (1-1-1) - 10:00 AM

Club Tijuana U17 (1-1-2) vs. Guadalajara U17 (3-0-1) - 11:00 AM

Puebla F.C. (0-1-4) vs. Club Tijuana (1-4-0) - 12:00 PM - TVC Deportes (Mexico)

Club Atlético de San Luis (1-2-2) vs. Toluca (1-1-3) - 5:00 PM - ESPN (Mexico)

Monday, February 7:

Necaxa (1-1-3) vs. Atlas (2-2-1) - 5:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico)

Pachuca (4-0-1) vs. FC Juárez (1-0-3) - 5:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

Monterrey (4-0-0) vs. UNAM Pumas (2-1-2) - 7:00 PM - FOX Deportes (United States), FOX Sports (Mexico)

Santos Laguna (1-1-3) vs. León (1-1-3) - 7:00 PM - ESPN Deportes (United States)