The Mexico girls lost both of its games on Saturday, but their playing style was on full display.
Mexico lost 9-0 to MIDCS in the morning to kick off the Chris Hotop Classic in Mexico and then …
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The Mexico girls lost both of its games on Saturday, but their playing style was on full display.
Mexico lost 9-0 to MIDCS in the morning to kick off the Chris Hotop Classic in Mexico and then dropped a 4-1 third-place game to district foe Owensville (2-2). The Lady Bulldogs (2-2) kept the pressure on Owensville as they outshot the Dutchgirls 25-16.
Head coach Brad Norton and senior captains Bailey Christianson and Marali Herrera-Amaya were all unavailable on Saturday due to family matters, but coach Shane Cox said Mexico still played great. The MICDS game was lopsided, but Cox said that was a St. Louis area team with college-level talent that plays year round. Facing a district opponent like Owensville, Mexico just couldn’t get enough shots past goalie Riley Grube, who made 12 saves.
“Credit to their goalie because she had some amazing saves during that game,” Cox said. “I’m so proud of our girls. They moved the ball well, they attacked and they were not afraid to shoot today. They didn’t all go in, and it’s not always going to go in. A lot of times, it will.”
Cox said Mexico needs to maintain this style throughout the season, which he described as “aggressive but graceful.” He said the Lady Bulldogs have focused on being aggressive and communicating how to attack while being fearless shooting the ball and this resulted in "so many great crossovers” and “lots of good corner kicks.”
Prior to Saturday, Mexico won 1-0 in overtime at California and then defeated Fatima 5-0 on Chris Hotop Field. Cox said the Lady Bulldogs have been complimented on how they play.
“We had multiple coaches from other teams come to us and say, ‘We love your style of play. You play aggressive but do it in a graceful way.’ We’re not out there talking trash and being crazy.”
Grube cleared the ball while Owensville was ahead 2-0. The ball didn’t clear midfield, however, as it was taken by Mexico and Gwen Walker scored in the 51st minute.
“We want to play high pressure,” Cox said. “We don’t want to be living on our defensive end. We are trying to live in where we’re attacking all the time. The girls did that today, and that’s all we can ask for.”
Cassandra Young made a key play for Mexico in the net in the California game. The goalkeeper made a save to keep the score at 0 before Kaili Cox scored the game-winning goal in overtime with “a good left foot.”
Cox said that game was fun and the girls had more fun in their home opener against Fatima. Walker is a freshman but scored a hat trick to lead the Lady Bulldogs while Brenda Matuz and Bella Cummings each had a goal. Kaili Cox made three assists on cross passes.
“In all aspects, the girls played well,” Cox said. “They played together, they played smart and they played aggressive.”
Cox is happy the girls went 2-2 against tough competition to start the season but said there is more coming up soon. After facing another district opponent Wright City on the road on Monday, Mexico has to play at North Central Missouri Conference foe Kirksville (3-1-1, 0-1 NCMC) at 7 p.m. today and then face more challenging conference opponents Hannibal (1-1, 1-0 NCMC) at home, Marshall (3-2) on the road and Moberly (3-1) on the road.
Kirksville won a district championship a year ago during an 18-win season, Hannibal won 19 games, Marshall won 17 games and Moberly won 18 games. Cox said Mexico’s schedule has plenty of challenging teams, starting with the NCMC, but Mexico will be better off because of it.
“There’s nobody that we can’t try to compete with as long as we give it our best effort,” Cox said. “We’re a very young team. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the field right now. Mexico has a bright future in soccer.”
