Xolos Femenil Achieve Impressive 0-0 Result Against Pumas UNAM

Tijuana, Mexico

The Xolos women’s team achieved a very impressive 0-0 result against Pumas UNAM in their ninth game of the Liga MX Femenil Clausura 2018 at the Estadio Caliente.

Pumas UNAM is third in Group 1 of the tournament and was expected to come away with a win against the border city team.

Club Tijuana is near the bottom of the Group 1 table, but had been in good form heading into this match. The Xolos had won their first game in the competition last week against Monarcas Morelia and were hungry to keep adding points. The win did not come in this game, but it was a very surprising result against one of the best teams in the league.

The feat was a massive one as the Mexico City team count with the best defense in the Liga MX Femenil.

This was on display in this match as the standout player of the game was easily Pumas’ captain, Deneva Cagigas. Andrea Rodebaugh’s team had very few chances in the match, the clearest one came 57 minutes into the game when a header by Sheila Pulido went over the bar. Xolos’ defense also had a respectable showing as Pumas UNAM finished the game with very few chances.

One key chance near the end of the game smashed the post while another in the 89^th minute was saved by Itzel Gonzalez, who managed to keep her immense form. Gonzalez had stopped a penalty in stoppage time last week against Morelia and was a factor again for Xolos Femenil this week. Xolos Femenil stayed as the 13^th-best team in the Liga MX Femenil, now with 13 points and seventh in Group 1. Pumas UNAM is now the sixth-best team in the league and is still third in Group 1, trailing Club America and Toluca in the standings.

Xolos’ Lineup

23 Itzel González (GK), 15 Patricia Gutiérrez (C), 3 Daniela Vidal, 7 Sheila Pulido (77’ Valeria Barajas), 11 Arlina Montes (58’ Karen Maprigat) , 12 Stephanie Rodríguez, 3 Sarai Kim, 18 Ericka Soto, 21 Inglis Hernández(79’ Cristina Juarez), 22 Samantha Arellano, 24 Rosa Aguiar

Reactions

Pumas’ head coach Ileana Davila did not seem thrilled with the result, but did say, “A tie here is very respectable, it’s a very tough field to visit”. Many Liga MX teams seem to have the same thought process when visiting the Estadio Caliente and Liga MX Femenil teams seem to have the same opinion. Andrea Rodebaugh was very satisfied with Xolos’ performance and said, “I’m proud of my team. We played very well, especially in the first half”.

Pedro Ipatzi

21 years old, born and raised in San Diego, roots from Tlaxcala, Mexico. Casual baseball, football and basketball fan but soccer is my true passion. Excited to bring you coverage of Club Tijuana for EVT!