“We played the best soccer we’ve played so far this year.”

Mexico vs Wright City Photo Gallery

Mexico girls soccer head coach Sarah Olson praised the Lady Bulldogs’s performance following a 1-0 win over district foe Wright City on Monday at home. This victory was two games removed from Mexico scoring its most goals in 11 years in a 7-2 win over Owensville on Saturday.

On that same day at the Chris Hotop Classic, Mexico (3-2) lost 8-0 via mercy rule to Festus in the championship game so Olson was happy the Lady Bulldogs rebounded with a win after that. Even more so, she said she was glad how they built off what they accomplished in the Owensville victory.

“It was just connecting passes and just doing things like getting the ball to the outsides, working the ball and switching the ball across the field instead of the same way we always go,” Olson said. “When you score seven goals, it’s impressive. But, the way we moved the ball tonight and the quickness with which we played, the quality of play is the best it’s been.”

Mexico needed only one goal and that happened in the 19th minute when Brenda Matuz knocked it in on a second-chance opportunity that followed a booming free kick by Emily Moppin. 

Matuz said she wants the Lady Bulldogs to continue having fun this season and said they were able to do that Monday by how they played. 

“It was keeping possession of the ball, looking for our teammates, looking for those open passes and getting those good runs,” Matuz said. 

Mexico found many of those scoring opportunities, especially in the first half. The Lady Bulldogs tallied 17 shots against Wright City (2-1) and had 11 of them in the first 40 minutes.

In the first half, Matuz, Moppin and Zoey Norton each took shots on goal from outside the penalty box. Matuz took several of those shots before she was able to convert on Moppin’s kick.

“It builds from the back,” Olson said. “It’s a whole team effort because we have to move the ball. We moved the ball quickly and that allowed people to be open and catch the other team off guard.”

Olson said the Lady Bulldogs did well by putting Wright City in a dangerous situation, and even better, taking advantage with their goal.

“We talked about sending things back side,” Olson said. “You want the ball to cross the frame of the goal. When it does that, it’s more dangerous.”

Matuz knew what to do with the ball in that situation.

“I just saw the ball in front of me,” Matuz said. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to tap it in. It’s got to go in.’”

Mexico is only five games deep into its schedule but with a win already against a district foe. The Lady Bulldogs won their first regular season game last year against a district opponent on April 11 with a 2-0 win over Fulton so Olson said picking up such a victory is good for the team moving forward.

“It’s just a motivator,” Olson said. “We had a high game on Saturday and a really low game on Saturday. To come back and play good soccer and get a win is huge for the team moving forward.”

Mexico opens its North Central Missouri Conference schedule at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Kirksville (4-2, 0-2 NCMC).