LTA Agency’s striker Maria Ruiz, better known as Mery, scored two goals in as many games in La Copa de La Reina Final Four tournament in Basauri to help RCD Espanyol de Barcelona retain their Spanish Cup crown.

Espanyol faced the city rivals FC Barcelona in the semifinal, and the tense encounter was decided by a lone 70th minute strike by Mery. She repeated the feat in the final on Sunday by scoring the second goal in an impressive 3:1 victory over League Champions Rayo Vallecano. The back and forth match staged for the first time in the Basque town of Basauri saw Espanyol’s Ane and star defender Marta Torrejon as well as Rayo’s veteran Natalia all leave their names on the scoresheet.

The win caps a highly successful season for Espanyol which lost the Superliga Final by one goal to Rayo and won the Spanish Cup for the second time in a row. Mery and LTA’s Italian international forward Pamela Conti were instrumental in Espanyol’s impressive run this season by notching 17 and 27 goals respectively. They both add the first Spanish Cup title to the Cup triumphs they have previously experienced in the USA and Italy. Mery was part of FC Indiana’s 2008 US Open Cup winning team, and Conti has 4 Coppa Italia titles to her name won with Eurospin Torres in her native Italy.

Both prolific strikers are subject to a number of potential offers from leading clubs in Spain, Europe, and the US, but RCD Espanyol seems to be in the pole position to retain the services of Mery and Conti for the upcoming 2010-2011 season.