Liga MX Femenil recap: 2022 Clausura, Week 16

Rather than focus on the goings-of the past week, I’m going to use this space to take a look at the upcoming week because there’s so much at stake. The last week of the regular season is shaping up to be one that’s full of drama. Going into the week, Monterrey, Chivas, Tigres, América, Pachuca, and Atlas are all in and Santos, Necaxa, Mazatlán, León, Puebla, and Juárez are all out. That leaves Toluca, Pumas, Tijuana, Cruz Azul, Querétaro, and San Luis battling for the final two spots.

The drama comes in that the current seventh (Toluca) and eighth (Pumas) seeds are playing one another, which will open the door for the other teams. San Luis and Querétaro also play one another, while Cruz Azul plays Puebla and Tijuana plays Juárez.

The Liguilla race isn’t the only race still running, with the top five players within four goals of one another. Licha Cervantes will take her 14 goals up against a Rayadas team that just held Tigres scoreless in a Clásico (Nacional? Regio?). Charlyn Corral is one goal behind Licha, and Pachuca is hosting Necaxa, which has conceded 30 goals so far this season. Tigres has Stephany Mayor (11) and Uchenna Kanu (10) who are within striking distance, and they’ll host Scarlett Camberos (11) and América. Any one of these players are capable of scoring goals, even against teams as good as Tigres and América.

Buckle up, friends.

Last week’s scores:

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 1, Puebla F.C. 0

Necaxa 1, Cruz Azul 2

Atlas 0, Guadalajara 1

UNAM Pumas 2, Club Atlético de San Luis 1

Mazatlán FC 2, Club Tijuana 1

América 4, Pachuca 0

León 2, Toluca 2

Santos Laguna 3, FC Juárez 1

Monterrey 0, Tigres UANL 0

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Sub 17 results

Week 16

Necaxa 3, FC Juárez 0

UNAM Pumas 1, Toluca 1

Puebla F.C. 2, Cruz Azul 1

Atlas 1, Guadalajara 2

León 1, Tijuana 0

Santos Laguna 4, Tigres UANL 2

Mazatlán FC 0, Club Atlético de San Luis 1

América 0, Pachuca 1

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

Saturday, April 30:

Tigres UANL (5-4-5) vs. Atlas (7-3-4) - 9:00 AM

Pachuca (7-6-1) vs. Toluca (8-2-5) - 11:30 AM

Puebla F.C. (6-2-6) vs. América (11-2-1) - 12:00 PM

Guadalajara (8-3-3) vs. Santos Laguna (7-4-3) - 3:45 PM

León (7-2-5) vs. Monterrey (3-4-7) - 3:45 PM

Necaxa (4-5-5) vs. UNAM Pumas (5-5-4) - 3:45 PM

Sunday, May 1:

Club Tijuana (5-2-7) vs. Mazatlán FC (3-2-10) - 11:00 AM

FC Juárez (1-4-9) vs. Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (4-1-9) - 1:45 PM

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Notes and other things

First and foremost, congratulations to Meg Linehan, Katie Strang, Steph Yang, and Pablo Maurer for winning first place in the AP Sports Editors contest in the investigative category for their reporting on the sexual abuse scandal in the NWSL last year that forced a global reckoning in women’s soccer. Congratulations also to Molly Hensley-Clancy and Steven Goff who finished in second place.

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Anita Asante is calling it a career. Truly one of the pioneers of the modern era of women’s soccer, Asante’s pro career started in 2003 with Arsenal and saw her play in the WPS, Damallsvenskan, and WSL as well as representing England 71 times since 2004.

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Club Ñañas of Ecuador has announced a “Secure Stadium” strategy for matches in Estadio Rumiñahui which will include video technology. Ñañas is an ambitious club, and in the six years it has been in existence has climbed to the Superliga Ecuatoriana de Fútbol Femenina and placed second for the past three seasons.

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México announced that their friendlies against Perú in June will be held in Torreón.

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Barcelona Femení broke their own world record for attendance for a women’s professional soccer match, drawing 91,648 in their UEFA Women’s Champions League Semifinal match against Wolfsburg.

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Congratulations to Olimpia on winning the Honduran Liga Mayor Femenina, beating Vista de Satuye 2-1 on Sunday.

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, April 29:

Club Atlético de San Luis (4-5-7) vs. Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (5-3-8) - 5:00 PM - ESPN (Mexico)

Saturday, April 30:

Cruz Azul (5-3-8) vs. Puebla F.C. (3-3-10) - 12:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico), ViX

Pachuca (9-2-5) vs. Necaxa (3-5-8) - 7:00 PM

Sunday, May 1:

Tigres UANL (11-5-0) vs. América (11-3-2) - 6:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico), ViX

Monday, May 2:

Atlas (6-6-4) vs. León (3-4-9) - 12:00 PM - TVC Deportes (Mexico)

Toluca (5-5-6) vs. UNAM Pumas (5-4-7) - 5:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico), ViX

Guadalajara (12-4-0) vs. Monterrey (14-1-1) - 7:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico), Chivas TV, Telemundo Deportes App (United States)

Santos Laguna (4-2-10) vs. Mazatlán FC (3-4-9) - 7:00 PM

Club Tijuana (3-9-4) vs. FC Juárez (3-2-11) - 9:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)