Don’t ever sleep on Charlyn Corral. The experienced Mexican international knows to step up whenever her Pachuca side needs her. She did it earlier this year in a four-goal game against Toluca, and now, in Liga MX Femenil’s Week 5 of the Clausura, Corral picked up another hat-trick performance, this time against Santos Laguna.
Corral is now second in the Golden Boot race with eight goals, just one shy of leader Kiana Palacios of Club América. Seven of Corral’s eight goals have come in just two games. She also added a tally against Querétaro to kick off the 2023 Clausura.
She made Santos Laguna her victims on Monday night. Corral added one goal in the 27th minute and then two second-half goals. Alice Soto, Mariana Munguía and Jennifer Hermoso added tallies as well. But it was Corral’s three goals that stole the show.
In the first half, Corral took a tough angled shot past Santos Laguna goalkeeper Paola Calderón. She had the ball toward the side of the penalty area and dribbled past her defender, María Yokoyama, firing with her left foot.
In the second half, Corral earned her brace in the 70th minute with a shot inside the box. Initially, her Pachuca teammate Lizbeth Ángeles took a shot from about 30-yards out, but it smacked off the crossbar. However, the bounce was friendly, and landed in front of Corral, who cooly slotted it home. Six minutes later, the hat-trick was completed with a sneaky free kick run behind the cluster of players inside the box. Corral found herself open toward the post and tapped the ball past Calderón.
Since her arrival to Liga MX Femenil — she joined Pachuca ahed of the Apertura 2021 campaign — Corral has been lethal in front of goal. Her season-best is 13 goals in the Clausura 2022 regular season. This season, the league is approaching only Week 6 and Corral is about three quarters of the way to tying that number.
In regular and post-season play, Corral has scored a total of 41 goals in 62 games. She’ll look to add more to her tally when Pachuca takes on Club León on Friday night.
Highlight: Atlas 1, FC Juárez 2
It didn’t take FC Juárez long to bounce back after a close defeat to Chivas de Guadalajara last week. FC Juárez picked up valuable points from Atlas in a big road win. The match kicked off the weekend’s games, and despite a small comeback from Atlas, FC Juárez showed they’re not a team to be messed with this Liga MX Femenil season.
Miah Zuazua, the 23-year-old from Mexico, scored the opening goal just shy of five minutes into the contest. Zuazua picked up a cross from Jasmine Casarez that skipped over everyone’s head and bounced in between Zuazua and Atlas goalkeeper Ana Paz. In an impressive display of control, Zuazua carefully kicked the ball with her left foot to settle it and struck with her right. One wrong move, and Zuazua would have kicked goalkeeper Paz in the face.
Casarez scored the team’s second goal toward the end of the first half. In the 42nd minute, the American headed the ball past Paz after a long cross from Paola González. However, FC Juárez wasn’t in the clear. A late attack from Atlas in the 84th minute saw Costa Rican international Carolina Venegas find the scoreboard. Venegas, who joined Atlas last year, headed the ball at close range after substitute Norma Hernández intercepted the ball in Atlas’ attacking half.
However, FC Juárez was able to stave off any more advances from Atlas, and picked up three points to move to sixth place. Meanwhile, Atlas sits in 10th place in the table.
Highlight: Club Tijuana 0, Mazatlán 1
If Liga MX Femenil has taught fans anything, it’s that points count in the home stretch of any Clausura or Apertura season. Club Tijuana dropping points against a bottom-table side like Mazatlán could come bal to haunt them in the Liguilla race.
The visitors Mazatlán – who entered the match in last place – bested Tijuana by a single goal. Now, with the three points, they’ve jumped up to 16th place. Meanwhile, Tijuana remains in eighth place, but it’s much closer in the middle of the table. Tijuana has Atlético San Luis and Atlas breathing down their neck with seven points each.
Yuliana Mora was the hero for Mazatlán, scoring in the 13th minute. After an interception in the middle of the pitch, Mora ran on the outside and collected the ball, dribbling it into the box before firing to the side of goalkeeper Alejandra Gutiérrez. Three Tijuana players chased down the ball, with Adyson Willett coming closest to a goal-line save, but couldn’t prevent the goal.
Points matter in Liga MX Femenil. There’s a long way to go in the regular season, but Tijuana will want to redeem themselves with a few three-point collecting games. Next up for Tijuana is a date against an evenly-matched UNAM Pumas side on Saturday afternoon.
Other Clausura Week 5 Scores
- Toluca 0-0 Chivas de Guadalajara
- Cruz Azul 1-1 UNAM Pumas
- Puebla 2-0 Necaxa
- Club América 2-0 Club León
- UANL Tigres 3-1 Atlético San Luis
- C.F. Monterrey 1-0 Querétaro
Liga MX Femenil Clausura 2023 Table | Week 5
NOTE: The top eight teams in Liga MX Femenil will qualify for the Liguilla, which are the playoffs.
| Team | W | D | L | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UANL Tigres | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 15 |
| C.F. Monterrey | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 15 |
| Club América | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 13 |
| Chivas de Guadalajara | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 13 |
| Pachuca | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 12 |
| FC Juárez | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 12 |
| Cruz Azul | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Club Tijuana | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | -2 | 7 |
| Atlético San Luis | 2 | 0 | 3 | 10 | -1 | 6 |
| Atlas | 2 | 0 | 3 | 14 | -6 | 6 |
| Querétaro | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -2 | 4 |
| UNAM Pumas | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | -4 | 4 |
| Santos Laguna | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | -6 | 4 |
| Club León | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | -6 | 3 |
| Puebla | 1 | 0 | 4 | 15 | -12 | 3 |
| Mazatlán | 1 | 0 | 4 | 21 | -19 | 3 |
| Toluca | 0 | 1 | 4 | 14 | -12 | 1 |
| Necaxa | 0 | 0 | 5 | 18 | -16 | 0 |
Looking Ahead: Clausura 2023 | Week 6
*All Times in Eastern Time. All matches on ViX streaming for free.
**This is the last match before the international break. Club play resumes Feb. 24.
Thursday, Feb. 9: Necaxa vs. Querétaro at 6 PM
Thursday, Feb. 9: Santos Laguna vs. Club América at 6:05 PM
Thursday, Feb. 9: Toluca vs. Atlas at 8 PM
Friday, Feb. 10: Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Puebla at 4:45 PM
Friday, Feb. 10: Cruz Azul vs. C.F. Monterrey at 4:45 PM
Friday, Feb. 10: Atlético San Luis vs. Mazatlán at 6 PM
Friday, Feb. 10: Club León vs. Pachuca at 6:05 PM
Friday, Feb. 10: FC Juárez vs. UANL Tigres at 8:06 PM
Saturday, Feb. 11: UNAM Pumas vs. Club Tijuana at 1 PM
