Every possession mattered for the Mexico girls on Thursday.

Mexico vs Fulton Photo Gallery

The Lady Bulldogs picked up their first win in seven games against North Central Missouri Conference and district rival Fulton 2-0 at home. Sisters Claire and Grace Hudson scored the goals.

Mexico head coach Sarah Olson said, based on the team’s previous meetings with Fulton (0-7, 0-4 NCMC) and matchups with conference opponents this season, Thursday was going to be a battle. The Lady Bulldogs (3-8-1, 1-4 NCMC) won their third straight game against Fulton and also earned their first victories in conference play and against district opponents this year.

“There’s a lot in this game, always, every year we play them,” Olson said. “We’re usually fairly evenly matched. They had a lot of heart out there, and they played really hard.”

Claire Hudson gave Mexico a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute when she took a breakaway opportunity and put it in the back of the net. 

“I just like beating Fulton, and it’s definitely a school we all want to beat,” Hudson said. “The last time I played them was in the (basketball) district semifinals so it was good to play them again and win.”

Beating Fulton this time took a balance, Olson said. One one hand, Mexico had to be methodical with its possessions but also had to play fast. Olson said rushing just results in kicking the ball without much purpose, like passing to a teammate to set up a goal.

“I was very adamant to not rush and to not just be scrappy because we want to score,” Olson said. “We had to play possessions and switch the fields when we can and not feel like we have so much pressure that we have to go, go, go but play fast at the same time.”

Mexico came close to victory three days prior at Warrenton, when the game ended in a tie at 2, prior to losing a makeup home game 8-0 the next day to perennial conference powerhouse Hannibal (8-1-1, 5-0 NCMC). Hudson said the Lady Bulldogs possession was better than it was in recent games.

“We were able to possess the ball, which we haven’t been able to do this week,” Hudson said. “By possessing the ball, we could kick it through their defense or we could pass it around and score.”

Olson said that goal from Hudson took some buildup from Mexico, which is a big observation she had from the win. She said Hudson is one of the team’s better scorers for a reason, showing an ability to “take on the defense” in space, but was able to run away with it on Thursday thanks to some passes from Aunna Bessolo and Brenda Matuz.

The second Mexico goal was an even better buildup, Olson said, as Grace Hudson put in a one-time shot from point-blank range in the 49th minute off a cross pass from Matuz, who was fed the ball by Claire Hudson. It is the freshman Grace Hudson’s first career goal.

“There were several passes, quick play and then a nice cross and really good finish,” Olson said. “A lot of the goals we scored this year have been like well-put-together goals. It doesn’t have to happen that way, but when it does, it’s really nice.”

“I was happy for her,” Grace’s sister, Claire, said. “She read the ball really well. It was a cross, she ran up on it and put it in the goal.”

Mexico plays a rematch against conference foe Marshall (10-2, 3-1 NCMC) at 5 p.m. Monday after losing 8-0 to the Lady Owls earlier this season.