Liga MX Femenil Week 3 Recap

I feel like I say it every week, but what a week it was. Juárez-Pachuca lived up to the hype, Santos and Chivas played an instant classic, Gabriela Machuca continues to have a breakout season with Cruz Azul, Tigres played Bayern in a friendly, we saw injuries to Uchenna Kanu (not that serious) and Licha Cervantes (probably very serious), and unfortunately we’re watching Toluca shed players and Mazatlán disintegrate in front of our eyes. I could spend hours talking about any of these, or perhaps an hour talking about some of these…

Either way this week was another reminder to me at that this league is wonderful. It’s far from perfect, but it is absolutely entertaining on a cellular level.

Game of the Week

Santos Laguna 1, Guadalajara 2

The best game of the week to watch was Santos hosting Chivas. These two teams match up really well, and have played some classics in the past. This one could be added onto that list, with both teams going full bore at one another, not backing down an inch. Alexia Villanueva got her third goal in three games, getting onto a great pass from Sofia Varela and chipping it up and over Bianca Félix in the 13th minute. Chivas answered in the 32nd with Licha Cervantes putting her own rebound into the back of the net. Cervantes doubled her total as the match went past the 45 minute mark, but at a terrible price. As she scored, she went down awkwardly and had to be carted off of the field, with the medical staff holding an ice bag on her left knee.

Cervantes was replaced at the half by Adriana “Boyi” Iturbide, and while the game lost some of the frenetic energy from the first half it was replaced by a steelier, more determined energy from both teams. Both teams fouled each other early and often, with Casandra Montero almost removing her jersey at one point after being held back by Frida Cussin as if to say “if you want my jersey so bad, I’ll just give it to you.”

Both teams had chances throughout the second half but ultimately Chivas prevailed, but it’s unclear what Cervantes’ injury was or how long it will keep her out for.

Other scores:

FC Juárez 2, Pachuca 0

Both Pachuca and Juárez are clubs on the rise, with Pachuca looking to show they’re serious contenders for the title and Juárez looking to show they’re a team finally ready to debut in the Liguilla and make some noise. Las Bravas had the upper hand in the Borderlands on Friday night, beating Pachuca 2-0. Jasmine Casarez headed in a wonderful cross from Myra Delgadillo in the 34th and Miah Zuazua headed in an insurance goal in the 40th. Pachuca’s Annia Mejía picked up a red card in the 75th minute, putting the match even further out of reach for Pachuca.

Atlas 4, Necaxa 1

After a 6-0 thumping from Tigres to start the season, Atlas has racked up two straight wins as they downed Necaxa 4-1. Paola García, Alejandra Lomelí, and Valeria Razo all scored from the run of play while Fabiola Ibarra converted a penalty for La Fiel, while Fanny Grano’s penalty conversion in the 65th minute was all Las Centellas could muster as Necaxa remain at zero points going into Week 4.

Cruz Azul 3, Club Atlético de San Luis 0

While Cruz Azul may have been thought to have been a fluke getting into the 2022 Apertura Liguilla, they’re dispelling that with a good start to 2023. With five points after three games, they picked up their first win by beating San Luis 3-0 on Saturday. Ana Gaby Lozada, Alexia Delgado, and Claudia Cid all scored for La Maquina, however the best story might be the first clean sheet for Gabriela Machuca who has been having a terrific season thus far. San Luis however may need to go back to the drawing board and look at their defensive structures, especially on the Delgado goal. The inability to fully clear the ball out of the box was problematic for most of the match and cost them dearly in this instance.

América 5, Club Tijuana 0

Tijuana looked good coming into this match, while América looked shaky. Those dynamics are most likely reversed now after a 5-0 shellacking by América on Sunday. Scarlett Camberos picked off an errant pass and scored in the first minute, and it was all downhill from there. An Adyson Willett autogol in the 22nd minute put Tijuana further behind, and Aurelie Kaci rounded out the first half with a nice goal that was deflected on the way in. The second half however belonged to Kiana “Súper Ki” Palacios, who netted goals in the 55th and 64th minutes to leave no doubt as to who would get the win. Tijuana has always had trouble with América, and luckily there’s plenty of time left in the season to put this one behind them.

Toluca 0, Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 1

Toluca responded to their 10-2 shellacking at the hands of Pachuca to put up a decent fight against Querétaro at Estadio Nemesio Díez, but Fátima Delgado’s goal in the 16th minute was all that Gallos needed. Querétaro is a team that is improving (albeit incrementally) most every week, and they should be happy with an away win at a tough venue. Toluca however is in crisis mode after letting go Sandra Lozano, Noemi Granados, and Gloria Villamayor (and according to TUDN, captain Yamanic Martínez as well, who was not on the roster).

León 0, UNAM Pumas 3

Pumas picks up their first points of the season, dealing León a 3-0 loss in Guanajuato. Princeton grad Gabi Juárez put a header into the back of the net in the 39th minute, but the game belonged to Stephanie Ribeiro. Ribeiro came on for Juárez in the 65th minute, scored a nice goal after weaving through the defense in the 67th minute, and capped it off with another goal in stoppage after again slicing through the León defense and knocking it in to the cries of “Goya! Goya!” from the visiting fans.

Rayadas de Monterrey 9, Mazatlán FC 0

A hat trick from Christina Burkenroad, a brace from Dani Solís, and goals from Karol Bernal, Fatima Servin, and Mónica Flores gave Rayadas a convincing win. As good as Monterrey is, this should also be a wake-up call to the Mazatlán organization that they have a lot of work to do on all facets of the organization.

Puebla F.C. 0, Tigres UANL 2

After a friendly on Saturday against Bayern Munich, Tigres may have been forgiven for rotating players or even taking their foot off the gas, but they played well and got a 2-0 win in Puebla. Mia Fishel got her third goal in three games, heading in a corner kick in the second minute of play. Jackie Ovalle then got her third goal of the season in the 54th minute, hitting a blast from the top of the box that Karla Morales got a finger on but couldn’t stop. And after a rare Tuesday evening match, Tigres joined Rayadas, Juárez, and Chivas as the only teams to win all three of their first three matches.

Liga MX Femenil Table

International friendly results

Tigres UANL 1, Bayern Munich 0

A really good game between two really good teams. Any thoughts that the teams would go at half-speed or not take it seriously were quickly dispelled. Both teams came out looking to win, and while fairly even throughout the match it’d be a stretch to say that Bayern were the better club. Tigres took the game to them, and a moment of brilliance from Jackie Ovalle turned the tide of the match. Ovalle stutter-stepped twice, causing German National Team right back Maximiliane Rall to fall down awkwardly, leaving “La Maga” tons of room along the flank. She calmly went forward and hit a pinpoint pass to Uchenna Kanu, who headed it in past Laura Benkarth for the game’s only goal. Kanu left the match, and it was later revealed that she had a strained right calf muscle. Ovalle continued having herself a match, causing all sorts of problems along the left flank for the visitors as Tigres continued on for the win in front of almost 35,000 people.

Sub 18 results

Week 3

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 1, Necaxa 0

Guadalajara 2, Club Atlético de San Luis 1

León 1, Mazatlán FC 0

Puebla F.C. 0, Toluca 0

Santos Laguna 3, Rayadas de Monterrey 3

Cruz Azul 2, América 2

Club Tijuana 0, Atlas 1

FC Juárez 2, UNAM Pumas 1

Week 4 (all records are in W-D-L format, all times as listed):

Saturday, January 28

Necaxa (1-0-1) vs. Cruz Azul (1-1-0) - 9:00 AM

UNAM Pumas (1-1-1) vs. Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (1-0-2) - 10:00 AM

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

América (2-1-0) vs. FC Juárez (1-0-2) - 11:00 AM

Mazatlán FC (0-1-1) vs. Guadalajara (1-1-1) - 11:00 AM

Tigres UANL (1-0-0) vs. León (1-2-0) - 11:15 AM

Sunday, January 29

Club Atlético de San Luis (0-2-1) vs. Atlas (1-1-0) - 10:00 AM

Rayadas de Monterrey (0-3-0) vs. Club Tijuana (0-1-1) - 10:00 AM

Bye

Puebla F.C. (1-2-0), Santos Laguna (0-3-0)

Stay tuned for more information, including Notes and Other Things and a how to watch article for Week 4 in the upcoming days. As always, I’m open to any ideas and collaborations. Feel free to hit me up on twitter or via email at [email protected], and please subscribe to this!