Posted on January 23, 2012
By Michael Lewis
TropiGol.com Editor
VANCOUVER — Starting only two regulars from it’s 5-0 pasting of Guatemala two days ago, Mexico hardly missed a beat en route to a 7-0 triumph over the Dominican Republic in CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying on Sunday afternoon.
The win boosted Mexico into the semifinals. The Mexicans will meet meet the U.S. in the third and final group stage match on Tuesday as it will decide the seedings for Friday’s semifinals.
Midfielder Teresa Noyola, the Hermann Trophy award winner as American college’s top women’s soccer player at UCLA, orchestrated the win as one of the two starters from Friday’s encounter. Marylin Diaz, who converted a first-half penalty kick, also was a double starter for El Tri.
Mexican coach Leonardo Cuellar explained why he decided to rest virtually his entire first team.
“We don’t have control on what is going to happen in the next game, between the U.S. and Guatemala,” he said of the Americans’ 13-0 victory in the second game of the doubleheader. “We can score a lot of goals. But in the end, if the U.S. scores one goal in goal differential [it won't matter].
“I decided to give rhythm to the rest of the players and also because it’s a young team. So they need to experience these scenarios, they need to step up. What happened today gives me a better idea of how I’m going to balance the next two games who responds well to the pressure for some of them it’s the first time they’ve come to this kind of tournament. We have possibilities in some areas the possibilities are not now but we’re also building for the future.”
Anisa Guajardo led the winners with three goals and Jennifer Ruiz added two.
“I think that anyone can do what I did today, anyone of these players,” Guajardo said. “It’s just my lucky day I guess, but the girls on the bench and the girls on the field they keep the rhythm of the game, they keep the momentum high and that’s what makes it so great.
“I’m just fortunate to have been in the right spots at the right time to get the goals in, but I think anybody would have had the exact same performance I would have anyone’s capable.”
The Mexicans thought they had scored in the sixth minute on a Chrystal Martinez goal, but it was disallowed due to an offside call. Noyola took a free kick from the right side that went to Monica Alvarado in the penalty area. She took a shot that goalkeeper Heidy Salazar saved. The rebound went to Martinez, who slotted it home before she was called offside.
Noyola and the Mexicans, however, made no mistake in the 21st minute. The Stanford University All-American won a 50-50 ball in the Mexican half and she quickly passed to Diaz, who found an onrushing Rosario Saucedo in the penalty area. Saucedo beat defender Carmen Polanco, who fell to the turf and then the keeper from six yards.
It took only five minutes for Mexico to double the lead. This time the Dominican Republic’s Yasquesi Nunez took down Saucedo in the penalty area. Diaz converted the ensuing penalty with a soft kick to the lower left corner for a two-goal margin in the 26th minute.
Before the first half ended, the Mexicans tacked on another goal as Anisa Guajardo fed Jennifer Ruiz for a 3-0 lead in the 38th minute.
El Tri did not relent in the second half, tacking on a fourth score four minutes in as Guarjardo put home a feed from Arianna Romero from close-range.
Guajardo scored her second goal of the match in the 62nd minute when she headed home a right-wing cross from Ruiz. Her shot hit the crossbar and bounded into the net for a 5-0 margin.
A Noyola corner kick started Mexico’s sixth goal as Ruiz knocked in a scramble in the box in the 71st minute.
Four minutes later, Guajardo got her hat-trick as she converted a pass from Alvarado past Salazar for a 7-0 lead.
Categories: Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, North America, Olympic Qualifying, U.S.A., Women
Tags: Anisa Guajardo, Teresa Noyola
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