Liga MX Femenil recap: 2022 Clausura, Week 6

An exciting week as always in Liga MX Femenil, with the standard amount of shock results and amazing goals. Congratulations are in order for Puebla, who won their first game of the season, ensuring that there will not be a winless team for the first time since Monarcas Morelia in the 2018 Clausura.

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 2, Guadalajara 2: A good outing by Querétaro, as they drew league leaders Chivas at their new home Estadio Olímpico Alameda. Sonia Vázquez put the hosts up in the seventh minute when she stole the ball, drove toward the box, and hit a shot past Celeste Espino. Chivas equalized in the 20th minute when a corner kick into the mixer wasn’t cleared out and Casandra Montero knocked it in. In the 44th minute, Jaquelín García hit a curling shot that Espino got a hand on but couldn’t stop to give the home side the lead going into the halftime break. A defensive mistake however in the 64th allowed Caro Jaramillo to get the ball and drive into the box. Just when it looked like she was going to shoot, she laid it off for the onrushing Licha Cervantes, who hit it past Vanessa Córdoba to rescue a point for Chivas.

Mazatlán FC 2, Tigres UANL 4: Mia Fishel’s debut as a starter did not disappoint, as Tigres got a decisive 4-2 victory over Mazatlán. Fishel started in place of Uchenna Kanu, who was completing paperwork to compete with Nigeria in the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers. Jackie Ovalle put Tigres up in the 11th minute when Fishel dished off a nice pass and “La Maga” struck it with fury past Alondra Ubaldo from the top of the box. Stephany Mayor got her second goal of the season in the 17th minute when she got a pass from Belén Cruz and hit a shot from close to the penalty spot. Mazatlán pulled one back a minute later when María Cuadrado hit an arcing shot up and over Vania Villalobos. Cuadrado helped pull the hosts level in the 29th minute when she hit a fantastic through ball to Karla Saavedra, drawing Villalobos off of her line. With the goalkeeper out of position, Saavedra hit a nice square ball over to Montse Peña, who knocked it into the empty net. Fishel reclaimed the lead in the 39th minute when she was able to get to the rebound of a Belén Cruz shot and knock it in from six yards out. In the 81st minute Fishel added an insurance goal off of a great team play. BIanca Sierra drove almost to the end line, hit a pass into the box to Mayor, who feigned a shot and passed to Fishel who despite being close to three defenders hit a shot into the roof of the goal for Tigres’ third win of the season.

Cruz Azul 1, América 3: Cruz Azul hung in there with Club América, but Las Águilas scored three unanswered goals in the second half to come back against their Clásico Joven rivals. Dalia Molina put the hosts up shortly after the start of the second half, taking a beautiful through ball from Renata Huerta and chipping one past Renata Masciarelli. The lead wouldn’t last long however as América were awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute. Katty Martínez converted it for her 100th goal in Liga MX Femenil a minute later, drawing the sides level. Casandra Cuevas put the visitors up in the 67th minute after Scarlett Camberos hit a cross into the box that Dani Espinosa flicked over to the wide open forward for an easy goal. Camberos got her first goal in Liga MX Femenil in the 77th minute when she made a run down the right flank and hit a shot that beat Itzayana González to seal América’s fourth win of the season.

Puebla F.C. 2, Club Tijuana 0: A bit of a shock result, although Puebla has largely played solid soccer and seemed unlucky at times to get some of the results they’ve had. Puebla took the lead in the fifth minute when Maria Sainz took the ball off of the foot of a Tijuana defender and fired one into the top of the net. Estefany Hernández had a good chance in the 30th minute off of a corner kick, but her header at the empty net went just wide of the target. Annia Mejía almost commited an autogol in the first half stoppage time but her clearing attempt luckily for Tijuana went wide of the net. In the 58th minute Verónica Martins drove into the box, drew contact from Yadira Toraya, and went down getting the penalty call. The replays showed the contact was pretty minimal but without the benefit of a VAR review the call stood and Martins converted the penalty to extend the lead to two. Angelina Hix had a good look in the 74th minute, but Brissa Rangel was there and held onto the shot. Alejandra Gutiérrez made a nice save at the other end in the 77th minute, tipping a shot by Lía Morán over the bar. But the damage had been done and Puebla picks up their first win of the season.

Club Atlético de San Luis 2, Toluca 2: This game was marred by an early controversy and a brutal injury to San Luis goalkeeper Stefani Jiménez. In the 33rd minute Jiménez went to track down a ball at the edge of the box, went to step on it, and her leg bent in a really grotesque fashion. She went down immediately, but the ball rolled out to Mariel Román, and she crossed it in to Stef Baz who knocked it in. San Luis pulled level in the 53rd minute when a mistake by Wendy Toledo allowed Bea Parra to tap the ball in while her back was toward the goal. Another mistake by Toledo in the 60th allowed Ana Karen López to head in her first goal of the season, giving San Luis the lead. Parra almost had another golazo in the 66th when she jumped and deflected a cross into the box with her back to goal that Toledo made a nice save on. Toluca drew even though in the 80th minute when Natalia Colin headed in a loose ball in the box for her first ever goal, salvaging a draw.

Necaxa 1, Atlas 1: A good end-to-end match that saw both teams creating chances and playing some fun soccer. Necaxa had a good chance in the 16th minute when Fanny Grano headed a corner kick at goal. Ana Gaby Paz did well to stop the shot, and it was cleared out by Norma Hernández before the rebound could be put back on frame. In the 37th Paz did well to clear a ball off of the foot of Luciana García Riefkohl and start a counterattack. The ball wound up on the foot of Veronica Pérez, and she chipped goalkeeper Daniela Muñoz to give Atlas the lead. It wouldn’t last long however. In the 41st Paz came off of her line to challenge an onrushing Samantha Calvillo. Paz deflected the shot, but Calvillo ran into her and the penalty was awarded. Fanny Grano converted it in the 43rd to tie the match up. Zellyka Arce had a good chance to start the second half, but her header went just over the bar. Muñoz made a couple of more saves on headers, batting away a Sulma Plancarte header in the 76th and pushing a diving header wide a minute later. Ana García had a shot go wide in the 84th minute, suffering a foul immediately after the shot just outside of the box. Both teams will feel like they left points on the table, but the result speaks well to where both teams are at the moment.

Pachuca 3, FC Juárez 1: Another convincing win by Pachuca, moving to a tie with Rayadas at the top of the table at 15 points. Pachuca took the lead in the eighth minute after Paola González took out Ruth Bravo in the box and Charlyn Corral converted the penalty. Pachuca were relentless in their pressure, and Selene Cortés was the beneficiary of this after Juárez couldn’t clear the ball out of their end in the 15th minute, hitting a rocket from just outside of the box. Natalia Gómez Junco added a header inside of the box for Pachuca’s third goal in the 22nd minute as Pachuca kept coming at Juárez. Corral almost had a second goal in stoppage time after the first half, however he shot from distance missed the far post by inches. Juárez had a good opportunity right after the start of the second half but Gabriela Muchuca was well positioned to make the save. It looked like Corral had another goal in the 58th when she caught Zoe Aguirre well off of her line and went in on goal, but her shot went just on the outside of the near post. Aguirre did well to turn a curling shot from Viridiana Salazar around the goal in the 62nd minute. Juárez thought they had a goal in the 70th minute but Dani Arias was able to head the ball off of the line and then block a follow-up attempt. Yenifer García drew one back for the visitors in stoppage time, hitting a shot from distance into the top corner, but it was merely a consolation goal for Juárez, who despite showing signs of improvement are at the bottom of the table.

Monterrey 5, UNAM Pumas 2: Complete and utter domination by Monterrey. In just the fourth minute of play a turnover by Pumas lead to Christina Burkenroad going in on goal and scoring. Four minutes after that it was Rebeca Bernal banking a header off of the far post and in for Rayadas’ second goal. In the 16th minute, Aylin Avliéz sent a cross into the box that Daniela Solís headed in for the third goal of the game. Pumas had two good chances in the 32nd minute when a free kick by Deneva Cagigas hit the post and then the rebound shot was tipped into the crossbar. The ball was ultimately put past Alex Godínez by Dania Padilla, but she was offside and the goal disallowed. A miscommunication between Melany Villeda and Cagigas lead to Nicole Pérez getting an easy goal in the 35th minute. Valeria Del Campo got her first Liga MX Femenil goal in the 45th minute off of a corner kick, and even though the lead was 5-0 at the half it could have been even more. Pumas looked a little better after the break, although Monterrey subbed out Alex Godínez and Andrea Sánchez at the break, in the 52nd Fabiola Santamaría had a good chance in on goal, but back up goalkeeper Claudia Lozoya made a nice save on the shot. In the dying moments of regulation, Mónica Flores had a pass hit her arm and a handball was awarded. Marylin Díaz converted the penalty, and then in stoppage Stephanie Ribiero tacked one more on but Rayadas still are perfect through the season and at the top of the table despite having played one fewer game than most other teams in the league.

Santos Laguna 1, León 3: A poor showing from Santos, while León rockets up the table within sight of a Liguilla spot. Santos got on the board first when Estela “Paleta” Gómez got to a Cinthya Peraza free kick, heading it past Ángeles Martínez. But from there it was all León. Selene Castillo took advantage of a poor clearance attempt to equalize in the 24th minute, and then just before halftime Paulina Gómez hit a free kick from distance that Nicole Buenfil deflected into her own net. Then immediately after halftime Yazmin Álvarez hit a worldie from distance for the insurance goal.

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Sub 17 results

Week 5

UNAM Pumas 2, Pachuca 1

Club Gallos de Querétaro 1, FC Juárez 2

Necaxa 1, Puebla F.C. 1

Club Atlético de San Luis 0, Santos Laguna 1

Toluca 2, Cruz Azul 1

Monterrey 0, León 1

Mazatlán FC 2, Tigres UANL 1

Club Tijuana 2, Guadalajara 0

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Notes and other things

The incident during the match between San Luis and Toluca was regrettable for many reasons, least of which was seeing a player suffer a gruesome injury. Hopefully Stephanie Jiménez is able to return to playing sooner rather than later, and San Luis released a report stating it’d be 3-4 weeks due to a partial ACL tear. There has been a lot of finger pointing at Toluca for a lack of sportsmanship, which is valid but I would lay a lot of the blame at the feet of the referee for not stopping play immediately at the sight of an injured player. Players are taught to play through the whistle, so I don’t fault the Toluca players too much.

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Stephany Mayor was nominated for Concacaf Female Player of the Year! Congratulations to her and the other nominees as well.

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Club América signed Iceland National Team and former Houston Dash midfielder Andrea Rán Hauksdottir.

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Jenna Tonelli interviewed Mónica Flores about her path through soccer from playing with her sister growing up in New Jersey to now being with Rayadas and the México National Team.

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New disturbing allegations emerged about Rory Dames, former head coach of the Chicago Red Stars.

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And former Canada National Team coach Bob Birarda pled guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of touching a young person for sexual purposes, but has six more counts “which will likely be stayed or dismissed at the time of sentencing.”

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After months of fan protests, Steve Baldwin finally sold his stake in the Washington Spirit to Y. Michelle Kang.

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Silvana Flores and her sister Tatiana Flores faced off against one another as Tottenham’s U21s played Chelsea’s U21s.

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The international break is coming up, and national teams are starting to release their rosters. Concacaf has the Concacaf W Qualifiers coming up, and México just released their roster.

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A shameless plug here: I appeared on the vidcast of my friend Sophie Lawson, who does a wonderful series on women’s soccer called “WoSo Serious”. Give her a follow and check out our conversation about Liga MX Femenil and women’s soccer in México.

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And finally, here’s a reminder why women’s soccer matters.

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):

Thursday, February 10:

León (2-1-3) vs. América (4-1-1) - 7:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

Tigres UANL (3-2-0) vs. Puebla F.C. (1-1-4) - 7:00 PM - TUDN (United States and Mexico)

Club Tijuana (1-4-1) vs. Pachuca (5-0-1) - 9:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

Friday, February 11:

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (1-2-2) vs. Mazatlán FC (1-2-3) - 5:00 PM - TVC Deportes (Mexico)

Toluca (1-2-3) vs. Monterrey (5-0-0) - 5:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico)

Saturday, February 12:

Tigres UANL U17 (1-1-2) vs. Monterrey (0-0-5) - 9:00 AM

Necaxa U17 (0-2-2) vs. Pachuca U17 (1-2-1) - 11:00 AM

UNAM Pumas (2-1-3) vs. Cruz Azul (2-1-3) - 12:00 PM - TUDN (United State and Mexico)

Atlas (2-3-1) vs. Club Atlético de San Luis (1-3-2) - 12:00 PM - TVC Deportes (Mexico)

Puebla F.C. U17 (1-1-2) vs. Toluca U17 (4-0-0) - 12:00 PM

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro U17 (0-0-4) vs. UNAM Pumas U17 (2-2-1) - 3:45 PM

León U17 (1-0-3) vs. Club Atlético de San Luis U17(2-0-3) - 3:45 PM

Sunday, February 13:

Santos Laguna U17 (4-0-0) vs. Atlas U17 (4-0-0) - 10:00 AM

Mazatlán FC U17 (2-0-2) vs. Club Tijuana U17 (2-1-2) - 10:00 AM

Guadalajara (4-2-0) vs. Santos Laguna (1-1-4) - 10:30 AM - Telemundo Deportes App, Chivas TV

FC Juárez (1-0-4) vs. Necaxa (1-2-3) - 1:45 PM - TUDN (Mexico)

FC Juárez U17 (1-2-0) vs. América U17 (2-2-0) - 1:45 PM