Mad About Maddie: McHi freshman scores twice, assists twice in win over Rowe

Freshman Maddie Estudillo scored two second-half goals, assisted on two first-half goals and gave everyone a glimpse of the future of McHi girls soccer with a 5-3 victory over city rival McAllen Rowe at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium on Monday.

The game was a makeup game from Friday when inclement weather canceled that matchup.

McHi improved to 8-2-0 with 24 points, one point behind Sharyland Pioneer going into Monday’s matchup. Rowe dropped to 6-5-0 with 18 points, three ahead of Edinburg Vela going into Monday night, in the fourth an final playoff position. There are six district games remaining.

Estudillo’s second assist of the night came on an NBA-style fast break, leading Gaby Gonzalez with a perfect pass and a 1-on-1 with the Rowe keeper. That gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead after Rowe scored back-to-back goals after trailing 2-0 just 10 minutes into the game.

Estudillo’s assist to sophomore Lana Alvarado opened the scoring just 2:19 into the first half.

Rowe, knowing for being a vert physical team in recent year ran side-by-side with the Bulldogs and controlled the ball for a good portion of the first half.

Estudillo was the biggest difference, however, on this night.

Her first goal, an assist from Autumn Curl, put the Bulldogs up 4-2. The freshman received the pass, took a couple quick dribbles, for positioning, crossed over from her left to right foot and fired a laser that looked reminiscent of the parting of the Red Sea, finding the seam all the way to the back of the net.

McAllen High’s Madison Estudillo, left, runs to meet a ball on an assist from teammate against McAllen Rowe’s Itzhel Gonzalez, right, during a match at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium Monday Feb. 24 2025 in McAllen. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])

She scored her second goal off an assist from Ellie Ford on a “scrum” in front of the net.

“I saw that moment where it was wide open and just kicked it,” Estudillo said about her first goal. “(On that second goal) I don’t really know what happened. There were a lot of people down there by the goal. I just stuck my foot out and it went in.”

Both teams play again Tuesday night, reverting back to the original schedule. McHi plays PSJA Southwest while Rowe plays a Sharyland team that could help itself remain in the postseason race with a win. The Rattlers only have 11 points as of Monday night so they probably would need some help along the way to pass both Vela and Rowe.

“They scored more than us and they were better than us,” Rowe head coach John Martinez. “They had some girls we didn’t expect to play as well as they did. But they did.”

Martinez said he told the girls they had to quickly forget about Monday’s game to focus on Sharyland on Tuesday.

Iliana Espinosa, Krissy Tanguma and Sari Cano scored for the Warriors. Tanguma’s goal was a long arching shot, perfectly placed from about 35 yard and over the goalkeeper’s outstretched hands. That goal tied it at two.

“I want her to shoot the ball more,” Martinez said. “That was a nice shot.”

McHi went up 2-0 off a corner kick that looked to be an own goal by Rowe. Ena Garza was the closest offensive person to that score.

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