In the long run of time between posting match recaps, I had many pings and doots on my phone to announce scores. Most of the time, I checked the screen to look for news, but, if I’m honest, when Alebrijes were in action, each ping felt more likely than not to bring news of another goal given up. But was that really the case, or was I conditioned to expect it after some seriously rough rounds of action for the Oaxacans?
Match Results: 6 W – 5 D – 8 L; GF 21/ GA 33
The results don’t fully support my anxiety…well.. at least it didn’t in the spring. Alebrijes was pretty even in their results and they even managed to make it to the playoffs where they scored a Quarter Final upset against Cimarrones on penalty kicks. They couldn’t keep the good times rolling in the next round, but after a lot of struggles, it was a nice turn of events.
This summer into fall however, the ratio of phone alerts to bad news for Oaxaca went back to what I’d expected. Over the first five games of the new season, Alebrijes got one point, scored one goal, and conceded 17. (That includes two separate 6-0 pastings.)
Recently things have been looking up as the squad picked up back-to-back wins including a 1-0 win over top 4 side Venados.
Other Stories:
There’s really not much to say…but again, my hat goes off to the Oaxaca Social Media team, who continues to come up with my favorite images and memes of all our teams.
Star Players:
Julio Cruz was the focal point of the attack in the Spring, but as is often the case, the quality of the outcome for Oaxaca begins and ends with the defense. Octavio Paz remains the man between the posts, but the defensive corps in the spring showed some tremendous strength with Fernando Morales and Francisco Lopez offering strength as defensive midfielders and Edson Santos stepping up in the role of a corner back. (Lopez showing was so strong he got poached by regular promotion contenders Venados.)
Obviously the recent season hasn’t been the defense’s finest hour, though part of that comes down to Paz being on the bench, and his replacement ceding 11 of the 12 goals from those twin 6-0 losses.
MacKenzie's Boot Room 