Photo: Tijuana Women’s Club.
Liguilla continues in Women’s MX League Closing the season!
The playoffs got off to an exciting start last week with plenty of goals and plenty of controversy. As always with Liguilla, the matches were divided into two parts, one home and one away for each team. There was one upset when No. 5 Pachuca defeated No. 4 Chivas.
Meanwhile, Pachuca is also promoted by Tigres, Club América and CF Monterrey. Here’s a look at what happened in Liguilla’s quarter-final.
Tijuana surprises in Game 1, sees red in Game 2
Club Tijuana advanced to the playoffs with a big shock, defeating the Chivas in the final week of the regular season. Tijuana continued to build momentum with a 2-0 home win over CF Monterrey. Angelina Hix, the American striker, scored in the 31st minute. Just before the halftime whistle, Adyson Willet – another American who played college soccer at Cal State – scored a corner kick.
Tijuana entered the second phase of the match with a 2-0 aggregate lead and great confidence. Going into the second game away, Tijuana got an early start thanks to Monica Alvarado’s header from a long free-kick.
However, just seven minutes after scoring an important goal for her team, Alvarado received a red card. The call-up was a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity and it went to VAR. After a long check, a red card was shown and Tijuana fell to 10 players for the entire second half.
Monterrey started to lift with an added player advantage. In first-half injury time, Daniela Solis scored to put Monterrey ahead by two goals. However, in the second half, the gates opened. striped he had goals from Rebecca Bernal, two goals from Monica Monsivais, another goal from Solis and the final nail in Aylin Avilez’s coffin in second-half injury time.
After the match, Alvarado said she was “disregarded as a player”.
“I thought the reason for VAR was to improve decisions on the pitch and ensure fair play,” Alvarado wrote in a statement on Twitter and Instagram. “There has to be a change for women’s football to progress. It must be better. I am proud of what our team has shown, we will keep our heads high and continue to grow and show who we are.
After the victory, Monterrey will advance to the semi-finals, where they will face Pachuca on May 25 and 29.
Pachuca overtakes Chivas in a thriller
If you ever want to talk about exciting matches, duels back and forth, look no further than Pachuca Femenil. If you want a club that makes your heart beat a mile a minute faster then this is it pipes this is the club for you.
The Pachucas lost 2-0 at the start of the first leg at home to Chivas de Guadalajara. It was a rematch of the Clausura 2022 final where Chivas defeated Pachuca for the trophy. And just 10 minutes into the first leg match, it looked like history was about to repeat itself. Quick goals from Damaris Godinez and Gaby Valenzuela had Chivas quickly on the pitch.
However, Pachuca is a team that does not crack under pressure. Alice Soto pulled one back at 20 minutes with a shout from the top of the box. Then, in the 43rd minute, Spain’s Jenni Hermoso scored a cool goal from the penalty spot and equalized as the teams went to the dressing rooms.
Typically, downtime was where the final tally-ups took place. Hermoso believed she had gained the upper hand with a 90th-minute + 1-minute goal from a corner kick by Golden Boot winner Charlyn Corral. Two minutes later, however, Caro Jaramillo scored the equalizer in a six-goal match. Jaramillo found herself in the penalty area and one touch missed Esthefanny Barreras.
The other leg saw the same back and forth – at least at first. In the 44th minute, Diana Rodriguez scored an own goal which ended with Pachuca’s goal. Opening the second half, however, Joseline Montoya made up for her teammate by scoring in a breakaway where three Chivas players deceived goalkeeper Barreras.
However, the second half belonged to Pachuca, with Hermoso scoring the winning goal before Esbeydi Salazar added the final score. Pachuca upset his enemy and advanced to the semi-finals of Liguilla, where he will face Monterrey No. 1.
FC Juárez is relegated to the first ever Liguilla
FC Juárez rocked the Liga MX Femenil table this season, but it wasn’t enough to beat Club América in Liguilla. The lower-ranked side always hosts the first leg, and FC Juárez struggled to hold off América at home, losing 3-1 in the first leg.
Alison González returned to her punctual pace, starting the game with a 9th-minute goal from a low free-kick that missed almost all players in the penalty area. Kiana Palacios he added a goal in the 40th minute to give Club América a nice lead before the break.
In the 71st minute, Andrea Hernandez scored Juárez, but another goal from Améric from Jocelyn Orejel in the 92nd minute gave Juárez a big mountain to score in the second stage. Juárez could not find his way away and lost the rematch. , 5-1.
The main storyline in the Leg 2 matchup was González herself scoring Liga MX Femenil’s 100 goals. González scored twice in the win, but it was her second goal in the 69th minute, after another free kick, it was goal number 100. González is only 21 years old, she was born in 2002. She played in Liga MX Femenil since Apertura 2018 when she spent one season with Tigres. She joined Atlas before departing in Apertura 2022 to join América.
Other goals in the second leg were scored by Palacios, Andrea Pereira and Andrea Falcon. FC Juárez scored a consoling goal from Mexican-American Jasmine Casarez.
Tigers dominate, and Atlas spaces
Tigres showed his dominance by starting Liguilla in stellar fashion. Not only did they score five away goals, but overall Tigres won their quarter-final match against Atlas, scoring seven goals and keeping a clean sheet.
Lizbeth Ovalle was the MVP of the quarter-finals, scoring a hat-trick in the first game. She scored twice in the first half of the first leg and then once in the second half of the same match. Her first goal required incredible skill, knocking it down at a difficult angle in goal.
Belen Cruz and Maricarmen Reyes scored in the first match. In the second leg, Atlas were only able to keep Tigres at home with two goals scored by Liliana Mercado and Stephany Mayor.
Atlas is eliminated from the playoffs, but Tigres will advance to the semi-finals and face Club América.
League MX Clausura 2023 | Semi-Final League
*All times are in the Eastern Time Zone.
Leg 1
Friday, May 26: Club América hosts Tigres at 21:00
Friday May 26: Pachuca will host CF Monterrey at 11pm
Leg 2
Monday, May 29: Tigres hosts Club America at 9pm
Monday May 29: CF Monterrey hosts Pachuca at 11pm
