Liga MX Femenil Week 11 Recap

Another clásico week is in the books, and it’s always so much fun seeing the league and the teams involved go all out to make these games an event. América drew an announced crowd of 18,900 and the game looked and sounded fun, with the crowd pretty evenly split between Chivas and América fans.

Meanwhile Rayadas had 30,877 in attendance at El Gigante de Acero, hosted a pregame concert, and the home side put up a gigantic tifo display.

Kudos to the league too for putting together the videos to showcase these games. There is nothing quite like the atmosphere in games in Liga MX and Liga MX Femenil, especially games of this magnitude. For those of us that can’t attend in person, the league posting videos of the game both from television feeds as well as ground-level footage captured by team and league personnel only helps convey how absolutely fun these games are.

These games are important. They are among the highest attended, most watched games in the entire world. The league is doing itself a huge service by talking up the attendance figures and television and streaming viewership numbers, which is a huge selling point for advertisers in two of the world’s fifteen largest economies.

Game of the Week

Rayadas de Monterrey 1, Tigres UANL 1

The better of the two clásicos by a long shot, with both teams going at one another from whistle to whistle. Both teams had some good opportunities, but there was a lot of solid defense punctuated by some hard fouls. Tigres had a good chance in the 16th minute when a Jackie Ovalle corner kick was barely kept out by Alex Godínez. Godínez made another good save on an olímpico attempt by Ovalle in the 24th as well. Then in the 31st it was Ceci Santiago’s turn to come up big, making a good save on a header by Christina Burkenroad. Rayadas got on the board first in the 38th with a wonderful counterattack that resulted in Burkenroad threading a pass through the box to Chinwendu Ihezuo’s third goal of the season.

Shortly after the start of the second half, Rayadas made a run in the box and Ihezuo was brought down, but referee Katia García didn’t think it was enough to award a penalty. Two minutes later, Tigres went down the field and Jackie Ovalle hit a wonderful cross that Maricarmen Reyes got enough of a touch on it to put it in past Godínez for the game-tying goal. Godínez however made a great save in the 59th on another attempt on an olímpico by Ovalle. Santiago one-upped that in the 76th minute, making a point blank save on a header by Ihezuo, which turned into a chance by “La Maga” Ovalle that missed the far post by inches. “La Maga” was also “La Guerrera”, playing with tape around her arm after being stepped on during play. Dani Solís had a look from distance in the 82nd, just missing a shot from distance. And while both teams tried their hardest to find a game winning goal, a thrilling 1-1 draw was a just result.

Other scores:

América 2, Guadalajara 0

The other clásico was a good game, however perhaps a bit disappointing only as far as clásicos go. It seemed like both teams had issues in the first half staying on the same page, often sending passes into guarded spaces and taking shots that were more hopeful than dangerous. Rubí Soto had one of the few dangerous chances in the first half, but her shot was straight at Itzel Velasco, who made the easy save. América finally broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute on a rush that got to Sabrina Enciso, who hit a shot that just evaded the diving fingertips of Blanca Féliz. Then just five minutes later Enciso drove into the box and hit a shot that hit Jaqueline Rodríguez in the arm. Referee Priscila Pérez Borja immediately pointed to the spot, and Andrea Pereira converted to seal the match for América. Chivas kept it interesting and tried to claw one back, but Velasco read everything well, picking up her fourth shutout in five appearances this season. This was América’s first ever regular season home win against Chivas, and just their second during the regular season, with the only other time being at Estadio Akron in the 2020 Apertura.

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 0, UNAM Pumas 0

Both of these teams needed a win in order to help them keep pace with Atlas, and both fell further behind. On the other hand, Marta Alemany picked up her fourth shutout of the season and Melany Villeda picked up her second. Both teams had some decent opportunities go snatch a winner, but it didn’t often translate into shots going on net.

Cruz Azul 1, FC Juárez 1

One of the more controversial results we’ve seen in a while. Cruz Azul were credited with a goal in the 11th minute when a cross into the box floated near the goal line. Goalkeeper Stefi Jiménez bobbled it but managed to keep it from crossing the line, eventually causing the ball to come loose in the box. Miriam Castillo attempted to clear the ball, but hit Dani “Blue” Flores in the arm and the ball went into the back of the net. Flores was credited with the goal, but the reviews clearly showed her arm was away from her body and a VAR review most likely would have disqualified the goal. Down a goal early, Juárez clawed their way back into the match, with Blanca Solís heading in a corner kick in the 39th minute to draw the sides level.

Pachuca 7, Club Tijuana 2

An out-and-out thrashing by Pachuca. Charlyn Corral had a hat-trick, absolutely cooking defenders in the eighth and 54th minute to score and getting a great ball over the top in the 11th to give her 13 goals in 11 games this season. Not to be outdone, Jenni Hermoso has 12 in 11 games after she scored a brace, knocking in her own rebound in the 36th minute and dancing through the defense in the 69th. Jillian Jennings got her first professional goal in the 18th minute, knocking in the rebound of a free kick from distance, and Liz Ángeles rounded out the scoring for Pachuca in the 85th minute, heading in a cross that just missed Hermoso’s head. Tijuana’s goals came in the 26th minute on a decent strike from Paola Villamizar for her second goal in as many games and a Renae Cuéllar penalty in the 66th minute for her 75th Liga MX Femenil goal, but it was long over by that point.

Toluca 2, Mazatlán FC 1

Toluca keep themselves alive in the Liguilla hunt, fighting their way back to beat Mazatlán despite outplaying Las Cañoneras for most of the match. Brenda Woch set the tone in the third minute, getting a great through ball and beating goalkeeper Fer Tarango but hitting the post. Mazatlán took the lead however early in the second half when Cristina Torres fought off a defender and poked one in past Kayla Thompson. But Toluca kept at it and in the 58th minute when Fernanda Sánchez headed in a great cross into the box from deep. Ten minutes later Brenda Woch was brought down in the box, and Liliana Rodríguez converted the penalty to give the home side all three points and keep them two behind San Luis and four behind Atlas.

Club Atlético de San Luis 1, Necaxa 0

Another game where Necaxa didn’t look bad per se, but just couldn’t get anything to go early. San Luis however did what they needed to do as Mariela Herrera got the game’s only goal in the 33rd minute, heading in a corner kick. Nicole Buenfil got her second clean sheet of the season as San Luis remains in ninth place, just two points behind Atlas.

Santos Laguna 1, Atlas 2

This one could have been game of the week, if I’m being my most honest self. While the first half wasn’t much to write home about, both teams had a couple of decent chances and goalkeepers Hannia de Ávila and Ana Gaby Paz kept the sides scoreless into the second half. Santos took the lead however in the 52nd minute when Cinthya Peraza made a move along the left side and hit a great cross over to Sofía Varela, who headed in her fourth goal of the season. Paz made a great save in the 70th minute when Varela beat a defender to get into the box. Two minutes later, a poor foul deep gave Atlas a free kick, and Andrea García hit a beauty to even the score. In the 85th minute, Alejandra Franco picked up a straight red card for kicking Alexia Villanueva in the face. Santos tried to capitalize, swarming the Atlas goal. In the 90th minute, a flurry of chances got Santos close, but a goal line clearance by Fer Limón kept things even. Then in the seventh minute of stoppage on the very last play, a corner kick by Atlas went into the mixer and Valeria Razo was able to poke the ball home to keep Atlas in eighth place and put Santos virtually out of reach of the Liguilla.

León 3, Puebla F.C. 1

Both teams had chances early, but León converted first with Mayalu Rausch hitting a shot at Karla Morales that she couldn’t handle. Puebla drew even however in the 28th when Brenda García hit a header at full speed off of a corner kick. Morales made a fantastic save in the 41st on a Lixy Rodríguez shot from the top of the box to keep the sides level going into halftime, but the second half saw León keep playing with the same intensity. In the 61st minute, Bri Woodall earned a handball for León, hitting a cross into the arm of a Puebla defender. Dani Calderón stepped up and converted the penalty to give León the lead, and Lucero Cuevas added an insurance goal in the 87th when she took a Mariana Larroquette pass out to the wing, drove into the box, and fired one past Morales for her first goal of the tournament.

Sub 18 results

Week 12

Saturday, March 25

Necaxa 0, Puebla F.C. 2

Tigres UANL 2, Club Tijuana 2

UNAM Pumas 3, FC Juárez 0

América 2, Pachuca 1

Atlas 2, Club Atlético de San Luis 1

León 0, Guadalajara 1

Sunday, March 26

Rayadas de Monterrey 1, Santos Laguna 1

Cruz Azul 5, Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 2

Bye: Toluca (4-3-3), Mazatlán FC (2-4-3)

Week 13 (all records are in W-D-L format, all times as listed):

Saturday, April 1

Guadalajara (7-3-1) vs. Atlas (6-4-1) - 9:00 AM

Santos Laguna (2-6-2) vs. Tigres UANL (6-1-3) - 9:00 AM

Pachuca (5-4-2) vs. Cruz Azul (4-3-3) - 11:00 AM

Toluca (4-3-3) vs. Necaxa (3-2-5) - 11:00 AM

Mazatlán FC (2-4-3) vs. Club Atlético de San Luis (1-4-5) - 11:00 AM

Puebla F.C. (4-3-4) vs. UNAM Pumas (5-2-4) - 3:45 PM

Sunday, April 2

FC Juárez (2-1-8) vs. Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (3-2-6) - 10:00 AM

Club Tijuana (1-3-7) vs. León (2-3-6) - 11:00 AM

Bye: América (7-2-2) ,Rayadas de Monterrey (3-6-2)

Liga MX Femenil Table

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