Monday, September 19, 2016

NMSU Aggies vs Nevada Wolfpack Women’s Soccer 9-18-16


My Alex Morgan crush has officially reached its zenith: I went to a soccer match.  No, she wasn’t there.  It seemed like a long shot of her just randomly showing up.  (I even watched a half of an international game last week and didn’t see her, other than standing with her hand over heart during the anthem next another player who was kneeling, protesting whale hunting or something.)  I hadn’t really ever considered going, but there was a radio ad on Friday promoting “Bark at the Park.”  I considered this an invitation.  I’d just assume listen to the Cowboys football game on the radio anyway, which I could do anywhere. 

I usually have a few stock comments about soccer.  In this country, soccer is more part of a socio-political agenda than it is a sport.  As a friend of mine once said, “Soccer is popular internationally because it’s a poor man’s sport.  You just need a ball and a couple of goals.”  It’s also not known for producing entertaining games and for ending in ties, which I think produces soccer’s main byproduct: fan violence.  Soccer won’t achieve mainstream popularity here until it is a sport dominated by large black men.  (Wait!  Think about sports in America for a moment.  I’m right.)  I do appreciate that play is continuous and matches play out in a fairly tidy two hours.  I can’t understand how networks can show 45-minutes of a soccer match uninterrupted, but can’t go five minutes without a commercial break in a NASCAR race.  And finally, Alex Morgan is so gorgeous.  (Hope Solo is too, but she’s been bounced from the US team.  Here’s hoping she gets a reality show.)      

The Aggie soccer field is in between the football stadium and the softball field.  The entrance to the field and the concessions serve both the soccer and softball complexes.  I let out a sigh driving into the parking lot, missing the softball team.  I found myself schlepping in my seat, a cushion, a notebook, and a radio.  I picked up a terrible lunch with a hot dog, drink, and a box of popcorn.  Worse, they’ve changed from Coke to Pepsi, so I don’t get my usual Coke Zero.  One of the guys in the trailer asked about my Chihuahuas hat, which I was wearing to wearing to celebrate their winning the PCL championship last night.  He was impressed when I told him. 

At this point, I’m really juggling things and have to bypass the courtesy table.  I came back after quickly eating.  I picked up four posters (two soccer, one football, one volleyball).  I made the comment that they looked good.  I also got a Larry Rose football card.  Cool.  Later, one of the courtesy girls went into the stands and recruited a kid in a soccer jersey as a ballhawk (retrieving out of bounds balls).  I was interested in one of the new t-shirts on the souvenir table, but not at $28.  I liked the design on the new hats, but didn’t like the snapback strap on them.  The lady at the table also commented on my Chihuahuas hat.  She was listening to the game last night too. 

I have to mention, I loved the music they were playing over the PA when I came in.  It was some rap number with yodeling.  I have no idea who does it or what the name of it is.  I’ll say the crowd was about 500-something (not including the dogs), but that’s just from looking at previous game attendance off the program.  All the stands are on the west side of the field.  There was one long grandstand and two small stands on either side.  On the other side are the benches with shade over them for the teams, along with the scorer’s table. 

Many of the fans, smartly, had umbrellas and also sat on the top row, to get the best overall view of the field.  There’s a park-like area with a couple of trees on the north end of the field were where most of the people with dogs went.  A several kids played around the hill.   A few people sat in front of the stands.  It must have been uncomfortable, but it was in the shade.  Several people did bring in some precious-looking dogs, but I got no petting in.  “Bark at the Park,” was a complete fail for me.  (And that was the other reason I wore the Chihuahuas hat.)  And, oh no.   There he is.  I can hear him and see him.  It’s that older fellow who’s at all the games and is really obnoxious with his cheering.  I’m glad Ron didn’t come with me.  He pronounced this guy his nemesis from watching all those ball games this spring with him.  Thankfully, he’s on the other side of the stands, almost out of earshot.

I looked up the girls on their website Friday and even watched some of their game with the Lobos live over the Internet.  It was a loss.  The announcer mentioned that they had a full house for the game.  People behind me, who’d went, were talking about the game and facilities there.  I really liked the Aggies’ road uniforms, white with a sprinkled crimson trim on the shoulders.  I wouldn’t mind having one of those tops.    

As the teams were lined up before the game for introductions, I looked for #10 Alieen Galicia.  The website seemed to tag her as their star player.  She looked really young with a slight build in the pictures and indeed, she was in-person.  #22 Gabby Campbell was also a standout in the lineup, because she was about a head shorter than everyone else.  The program lists her at 4’11”.  Again, a fellow behind me was pointing her and Alieen out saying, “You don’t have to be big to make it on the field; you just need heart and guts.”  #16 Cristina Bertoldo got the biggest ovation from the crowd, being from Las Cruces.  For the anthem, the Aggie girls were standing and holding hands.  Afterward, someone behind me made a comment about NFL spokesman, Colin Kapernick.  No doubt he was thanking him for making the anthem more important and a proud act of patriotism and not just a formality.

I already like the college game better than the professional or international game.  The clock counts down, not up.  They also stop the clock during any injuries or other prolonged stoppages.  Gee, that only makes sense.  There wasn’t much in the way of theatrics on injuries or goal scoring, which also got on my good side.  Let’s see, our match up here is the 2-7 NMSU Aggies vs the 2-4 Nevada Wolfpack (I hope that’s their nickname, because that’s what I’m going with for the rest of this post).  It doesn’t seem like the Aggies are overmatched on paper here.  I’m really missing not having any radio commentary to help with this game summary.  

My first game note comes at 38’ (minutes left in the half).  The Aggies get a shot on a nearly empty net as the Wolfpack goalie aggressively came way too far out to defend.  Okay, so this is what I’m doing.  I’m recording near misses on goal.  I was wondering how I would write about the game.  I’m still not sure when to cheer.  At 32’ the Aggies make a close header shot on goal.  30’ good jump save by the Aggie goalie.  28’ another good save, caught on the chest.      

At 24’ the crowd starts screaming for an Aggie to pass to an open player in the Wolfpack box.  Right after that, there’s a collision on field that sends both girls to the deck for a moment.  A guy yells out, “Good job!  She’ll remember that for the rest of the game!”  The fans here were very vocal, very knowledgeable and very critical of the ref’s and the players.  The Aggie players.    It was like being at a Little League game with a bunch of bad parents.  It was a shock.  At softball and baseball games, I never heard anybody being anything other than supportive of our players.  They weren’t trying to coach them from the stands or shouting out criticism.  I kept hearing, “Make space!  Make space!”  I’m sure the game is a lot easier to play sitting in the stands than running up and down the field. 

23’ an Aggie slow roller heads towards an empty net, but the Nevada keeper corrals it before it gets there.  17’ our first goal.  Wolfpack #15 Aless Abbuhl scores by herself in the box with two defenders on her.  I’m not happy about this, but somewhat relieved that I won’t be sitting through a nil-nil tie.  The program lists Aless as being from Switzerland.  There must surely be an interesting story here.  There’s another Wolfpack player from Germany.  In fact, most of the Nevada team is from out of state.  Most of the Aggies are from Albuquerque.  (No wonder there was such a good crowd against the Lobos there.) 

16’ the Aggie goalie has to make a jump save.  9’ after a good pass deep in the box, the Wolfpack goalie stops a hard roller.  At 6’ in I have to note a cat call from the crowd to a referee, “Hey Jim, your wife is calling!  She wants you to come home!”  5’ and there’s an Aggie breakaway.  #18 charges into the goalie, who is again way out defending.  At 4’ there’s an injury stoppage.  It doesn’t seem to be too serious thankfully.  2’ and there’s a Wolfpack stationary shot (not sure what the technical term is) from the sideline that goes directly on goal.  It’s caught right on the chest by the goalie.  The PA announces one minute and then counts down the last ten seconds of the half.  

At halftime, Aggie football standout, Striking the Wonder Dog, came out for an extremely energetic athletic display.  I reapplied my sunblock and spent $3 on a bottle of water.  It was robbery, but I wasn’t sitting in a cool enough place to argue.  (88 degrees was the announced temperature, but only in the shade with a fan.  It was a lot warmer than that.)  The Wolfpack players were sitting under their shade.  The Aggie girls were sitting at a corner of the field.  Both were going over strategy.  I turned on my radio to listen to the Cowboys game.  I’m immediately rewarded, hearing Alfred Morris “walk the dog” into the endzone.  As Babe put it, “He made a hood ornament out of the defender.”    

The second half begins.  At the 41’ mark, Aggie #10 makes a good pass in the box, but the Wolfpack goalie makes a good, point-blank save.  I’ll make a point here that the TV really doesn’t communicate how physical the game is.  The girls were constantly hitting and colliding with each other.  There’s tackling and shoving up and down the field.  There’s also quite a bit of chatter going on, something you really don’t hear on TV. 
    
37’ and I applaud a 27-23 Cowboy victory over the Redskins.  Unfortunately, Ron’s nemesis has changed ends and I can now hear him cheering clearly.  I keep the earplugs in and listen to the post-game show to drown him out.  At 29’, a ball on the sidelines is popped up and goes over the stands.  Like foul balls at the ballpark, keep your head up during the game.  It’s not like they’re going to let you keep any ball you catch here.  26’ the Aggie goalkeeper gets a save and immediately makes another save off a rebound shot.  Good concentration.   

The action drags a bit.  At the end of the row, I see a lady with an umbrella reading a magazine.  I notice that all the girls playing have long hair, like the softball girls.  You’d think short hair would be much more practical.  Maybe it’s to protect the back of their necks from the sun.  Finally some Aggie offense at 18’, the Wolfpack keeper makes a great punch save off a shot after a cornerkick.  At 17’ right after, the ball gets down field.  An Aggie tries to head it to the goalie and it gets away and a Wolfpack player kicks it in.  (Sorry, I didn’t get her number to properly give credit.  That’s what I get for having earplugs in.)  The Aggies at least didn’t record a dreaded “own goal.”  It’s 2-0 Wolfpack regardless.          

The crowd got noticeably louder and, finally, more supportive of the girls after that second goal.  The Aggies started taking a few long pot-shots on goal.  At the 11’, the Aggies made a nice chipshot just outside the box at the goal, but it was caught.  My scorekeeping is suffering as my pencil is now covered in sticky sunblock.  (It doesn’t come off when washed either.)  Another fan came over to me and asked about the goal.  It was referred to as a “hat goal?”  Well, it wasn’t a “hat trick,” since that’s three goals by the same person (in hockey).  Why don’t people ask me questions during a baseball game?  I could probably answer those.  In any case, I had to confess that, in spite of my note taking, I didn’t really know anything about soccer, certainly not as much as the loud-mouthed fans around me.          

Hey, is that Aggie quarterback, Tyler Rogers, walking by in the stands?  He had on an Aggie football t-shirt and looked like him.   I wasn’t able to confirm it until I got home and looked at my football program from going to the Lobo game last week.  Crap!  I didn’t see him again.  I would have congratulated him on the win versus UNM and a 42-point performance yesterday (albeit in a loss) and gotten an autograph.  I’d ask why he was there, but I’ve seen guy basketball players at a softball game.  Why not?
 
My last game note came at the 2’ mark.  There was scrum of sorts in the Aggie box, and there was a great save at the end of it.  Our final was 2-0, err. . . 2-nil, Wolfpack.  It was the next to worst case scenario for the game for me: the opposing team going up by two or more goals, functionally ending the game, but still having to still sitting through a half waiting for the inevitable loss.  The worst case scenario would have been, me distracted by something and missing a goal being scored.  There’s no videoboard here.  You’re not getting a replay.     

After the game, a fellow walked by with an Albuquerque Isotopes hat.  I restrained myself from taunting him, but still felt smugly superior with my PCL champion Chihuahuas’ hat.  Even better, a co-worker, whom I hadn’t noticed in crowd (since I was sitting down front) came over and said “hello.”  She was there with her boyfriend, who was there rooting on his little sister.  I forgot to ask the obvious question of “Which player?”  Having seen me writing during the game, she asked me if I was reporting on the game.  If want to call this reporting, bless your dear heart.            

After the game, the Aggie girls came out to midfield and thanked the crowd.  That was nice.  I appreciated that.  I think I spent five minutes gathering my things and trying to figure out how to hold them to leave (that’s a seat, a cushion, a notebook, a radio, and four posters I’m trying not destroy).  Much of the crowd stuck around, presumably waiting to see the girls after the coach finished speaking to them.  Hopefully they weren’t sticking around just to yell at them more.  

I’m not familiar enough with soccer to make any constructive criticism or really even dish out much praise.  The most I can say is that the Aggie goalie was kept really busy making saves (#1 Ashley Martin, I think, I didn’t get her number when she was introduced), and the Wolfpack goalie (who I totally didn’t get a number for) got fairly fortunate in the first half, as she kept charging out of the box, leaving the goal undefended.       

So the big question, how was it overall?  Well, this wasn’t the immediate love affair I had after going to an Aggie softball game.  The girls there were very entertaining with their cheering and general espirit de corps.  Also, it was more-or-less baseball.  I was hoping that seeing a soccer match in-person might be more enjoyable than on TV.  It was about the same, but I couldn’t change channels at the park.  I’m probably less critical than most of the people in the stands, but I did want to see a win.   

What did I like?  Aggie #18 Reilly Marks and Wolfpack #8 Mackenzie Robinson were rather attractive.  They were playing on the wing on the sidelines, so I was able to see a lot of them.  (Mackenzie also lost her headband by the sidelines right before the end and came back around and get it after the game.)   Hey, I’m doing what I can to sell your sport here.  I wouldn’t have ever shown up for a guy’s soccer match.  Bottom line, I actually did enjoy it.  All of my issues with soccer are still there, but the in-person experience kept my attention the whole time.  Certainly it’s better than watching it on TV.  I’ll go back if I can.  I was warned a long time ago by a friend that I might like soccer.  It’s taken a while, but he might have been right.     



   

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