Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
A chance at playing Mexico’s under-20 World Cup team came knocking for Western’s women’s soccer team as the two squads squared off in an exhibition match on May 23 at the University of Oregon’s Pape Field. Mexico’s roster consists of some of the top national players in the country who will play in this summer’s FIBA U20 World Cup in France.
Mexico also visited the University of Oregon Ducks on May 19 on the same field in 1-0 defeat.
“I think that this game taught us that soccer is its own community,” said Dana Jacobs, junior defender. “Through our coaches’s connections we got to play against a world-renowned national team — something most people in DII don’t get to experience.”
Mexico scored on and often but Western’s team stayed on the ball and maximized their effort all the way until the horn blew. Western had a difficult time getting scores off attempts at Mexico’s golden glove goalkeeper Miriam Aguirre. The Wolves couldn’t contend with cross shots and the speed to get it down from one end to the other by Mexico. Despite losing the game, a few of Western’s players said it was a very opportune experience.
“To me it was a really cool experience, not everyone gets to play a national team,” commented Kaili Brundage, sophomore midfielder.
Having few players at the age of 21, most of Western’s roster was of comparable age and experience compared to Mexico’s team. When asked if the unique matchup taught the Wolves anything about themselves, sophomore defender Kaitlin Poe answered: “This type of match taught us the importance of work ethic and really just makes us all around better players being able to play the best players our age from Mexico.”
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of: wouwolves.com
