Liga MX Femenil recap: 2022 Clausura, Week 12

It was a big week in Liga MX Femenil, and the biggest news is Tijuana’s 2-0 win over Monterrey, handing Rayadas their first loss of the season and ruining their previously perfect record. Rayadas are still on the verge of clinching a Liguilla berth in just the 12th week of play. Nipping on their heels however are Tigres and Chivas, both of whom won.

The race for the final few playoff spots is heating up, with Tijuana, León, Santos, Toluca, Puebla, Mazatlán, and Necaxa all being within four points of eighth place Querétaro.

Toluca 0, América 4: Toluca tumbles two places after a thrashing by América. Janelly Farías got the scoring started in the second minute on a header off of a corner kick. Toluca almost equalized in the ninth minute when Noemi Granados cracked a shot off from around 35 yards out that hit off of the crossbar. Sarah Luebbert put the visitors up by two in the 12th minute when she got her head onto a cross from Angelique Saldivar. Four minutes later Scarlett Camberos played a ball in for Katty Martínez, and Martínez got tangled up with Natalia Colin in the box, drawing a penalty. Martínez fired low and hard, but missed the goal wide. In the 52nd, Camberos made a nice pass from the left side over to Luebbert, who hit a shot. The ball was deflected by the Toluca defender into the back of the net for Luebbert’s fourth goal of the season. Then in stoppage Dani Espinosa hit a scoop pass into the center of the box that Nati Mauleon put in for her second goal of the season and first against her former team.

Tigres UANL 6, León: Tigres with an absolute beating on León, who despite looking like they’ve been going in the right direction were completely overrun. Mia Fishel got the scoring started in the 16th minute when Uchenna Kanu hit a cross to Jackie Ovalle on the left side of the box. Ovalle had the ball on her foot for four seconds before picking out Fishel in the center for a tap-in goal. Four minutes later Stephany Mayor got her first of the evening when Kanu found her making a run into the center of the box, knocking it past Ángeles Martínez. Mayor got her brace in the 31st on a nice pass from Ovalle, and then got her hat trick in the 42nd on a nice solo run through the defense, banging it in off of the underside of the crossbar. After the break, the Ovalle-Fishel connection fired up again, this time with “La Maga” hitting a pass in from the right side to “Big Fish” for the goal. Lydia Rangel rounded out the scoring in the 63rd minute off of a corner kick. Tigres are coming together in real time, with Fishel, Kanu, Mayor, and Ovalle finding their rhythm and timing, and that is looking like it’s going to be a problem for a lot of teams.

Club Tijuana 2, Monterrey 0: It’s ok if you didn’t see this one coming. After all, Monterrey were the undefeated, untied juggernaut and Tijuana looked pretty poor in their 3-0 loss against Chivas during the midweek. It looked even worse for the home side when Angelina Hix was a late scratch, apparently suffering a muscle injury in the warmups, making way for Paola Villamizar to make the start. Rayadas had a good chance in the ninth minute when Aylin Aviléz was played forward down the right. She made a move to go past the defense, but Alejandra Gutiérrez did well to meet her and force the ball high up into the air. Aviléz tried to hit a shot on the rebound over her back, but it went over the crossbar. Gutiérrez made a good save on a shot through traffic in the 18th minute and another at close range in the 31st on Christina Burkenroad to keep the score level. Alex Godínez made a good stop on Villamizar in the 37th at the other end of the field despite Villamizar being ruled offside. Shortly after the start of the second half, Dulce Alvarado played a wonderful through ball past the Rayadas defense to Villamizar. Villamizar brought the ball down with her shoulder, took a few strides, and fired past Godínez to give the home side the lead. Replays showed she might have handled the ball, but without the availability of a VAR review, the play stood. Then in the 48th Renae Cuéllar had a shot from the right side that skimmed the top of the crossbar. Gutiérrez came up big in the 55th, making a great save on a Desirée Monsiváis header in the box. Tijuana got their second in the 61st minute when a throw-in by Leyla Zapata was poorly defended, allowing Cuéllar to make an unimpeded run down the right and then hit a pinpoint pass to Sanjuana Muñoz for a tap-in. Tijuana almost had a second one just after the restart when Villamizar hit a cross in from the right side that just missed connecting with Cuéllar, who made a run up the guts of the Rayadas defense. Cuéllar had a good shot on goal in the 68th after a Rayadas turnover deep, but Godínez made a nice diving save. With the result, Tijuana moves within one point of a Liguilla spot, however they have played all 12 games so far, while most have played only 11 and eighth placed Querétaro has only played 10. Rayadas meanwhile stay in first place, but are back within three points of Tigres and Chivas.

Other scores:

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 3, Necaxa 0

Club Atlético de San Luis 2, Santos Laguna 4

Atlas 2, FC Juárez 1

Cruz Azul 0, Pachuca 2

Guadalajara 1, Puebla F.C. 0

Mazatlán FC 0, UNAM Pumas 2

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Sub 17 results

Week 11

UNAM Pumas 0, América 4

Tigres UANL 4, Mazatlán FC 0

Puebla F.C. 2, Pachuca 2

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 3, Cruz Azul 1

Guadalajara 2, Club Tijuana 0

Necaxa 1, Toluca 2

Santos Laguna 1, Club Atlético de San Luis 1

Monterrey 1, Atlas 1

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Notes and other things

México and Perú will play two friendlies in June in México.

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Speaking of international friendlies, Uchenna Kanu and Nigeria will face off against Canada in the April with two games in British Columbia.

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Brazil beat Colombia to win the CONMEBOL U17 tournament. Brazil, Colombia, and third place Chile will all be making the trip to India this October. India, China, Japan, and New Zealand have also qualified for the tournament.

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León midfielder Nailea Vidrio and a friend went to León’s Concacaf Champions League match against the Seattle Sounders when Vidrio says her friend was harassed by fans and no one stepped in to help. She posted this on social media, which unfortunately opened her up to harassment and abuse.

Don’t be these guys.

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Former Xolos Femenil coach Andrea Rodebaugh helped host a training course for women’s soccer managers and administrators in Nicaragua. I spoke with Rodebaugh back in 2018 when she was still with Tijuana, and it’s cool not only to see how right she was about some things but how far she’s gone in the game.

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Former Tigres and Chivas forward María Sánchez got her first start for the Houston Dash in the NWSL Challenge Cup, immediately making an impression.

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Marta doing Marta things.

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, México does not revert to Daylight Saving Time until April 3):

Saturday, March 26:

Cruz Azul (2-3-6) vs. Atlas (4-5-2) - 12:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico)

Toluca U17 (7-0-3) vs. Gallos Blancos de Querétaro U17 (3-0-7) - 12:00 PM

León U17 (6-0-3) vs. Guadalajara U17 (4-2-3) - 3:45 PM

Santos Laguna U17 (5-2-3) vs. Mazatlán FC U17 (3-1-6) - 3:45 PM

Puebla F.C. U17 (4-2-4) vs. Necaxa U17 (1-4-4) - 3:45 PM

FC Juárez (1-1-9) vs. UNAM Pumas (4-4-4) - 7:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico)

Sunday, March 27:

Monterrey (10-0-1) vs. Santos Laguna (3-1-7) - 10:00 AM

Club Atlético de San Luis U17 (2-2-5) vs. Monterrey U17 (3-1-6) - 10:00 AM

Club Tijuana U17 (4-1-4) vs. Tigres UANL U17 (3-2-4) - 10:00 AM

Cruz Azul U17 (2-1-6) vs. FC Juárez U17 (1-4-4) - 11:00 AM

Pachuca U17 (4-5-1) vs. UNAM Pumas U17 (3-4-3) - 11:00 AM

Puebla F.C. (3-1-7) vs. América (8-1-2) - 12:00 PM - TVC Deportes (Mexico)

Club Atlético de San Luis (1-5-5) vs. Tigres UANL (8-3-0) - 5:00 PM - ESPN (Mexico)

Monday, March 28:

Toluca (2-4-5) vs. Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (4-2-4) - 4:00 PM - TUDN (United States and Mexico)

Pachuca (8-1-3) vs. Mazatlán FC (2-4-6) - 7:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

León (3-3-5) vs. Guadalajara (8-3-0) - 9:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

Club Tijuana (2-7-3) vs. Necaxa (2-4-6) - 9:00 PM