Wednesday, November 1, 2017

NM State Aggies vs UMKC Roos Soccer 10-22-17



Let me start off with this.  I heard Mario Moccia say this on the Aggie Coaches Show, but it didn’t register until a couple of days later.  The Aggies have swept the UTEP Miners and UNM Lobos in volleyball, soccer, and football this season.  That’s kind of impressive.  Even more so, on Friday Aggie Soccer beat Chicago State on the road 8-0.  Yes, that score is correct.  I doubt they scored that many goals in practice before the match.  Attendance for that game was listed at 44.  I actually feel bad for Chicago State.  Their university is having much bigger problems than low turnout at sporting events. 

Before that, the girls won at Seattle U.  That team hadn’t lost at home in three years and the Aggies had never beaten them.  Coach Freddy Delgado was a bit confused by the players’ nonplussed attitude about the win (compared to beating UTEP and UNM).  He quoted an unnamed player’s response, “Well coach, we expected to win.”    

It was a perfect day to be outside, sunny, not too hot, and a clear blue sky.  Unfortunately, this contest against the UMKC Roos was the final home game for the soccer team and Senior Day.  (And probably my last outdoor event for the year, unless I get invited to an Aggie football game.)  The numbers 13, 16, and 27 were painted out on field for ceremonies later.  The crowd seemed okay for the match.  I might have been expecting more for the occasion.  There were a group of tailgaters in the parking lot though. 

Marty came in late during the first half.  The girls had texted her after winning in Chicago and told her to come out for today’s game.  (Talk about fan-outreach.)  Unfortunately, they may have been on Central Time at the time and given her the wrong start time.  Danny was also already there and I sat with them.  There were some people behind us giving at times droll commentary on the match.  After a few bored missives from them, I almost missed hearing Angry Mom and Angry Dad yelling to “Shoot it!” and “Make space!” 

The Old Man was out cheering up a storm throughout the match.  The baseball guys were down in front of the stands.  There was a girl with them who did a lot of cheering in the second half.  She brought megaphone, so there was some serious cheering going on.  A few members of the volleyball team walked by in a couple of groups.  I’d hoped to see them walk by again to congratulate them on yesterday’s win, but they never came back by.  The gorgeous woman from the last match made a reappearance in the second half.  Unfortunately, I only got see her once (and have my heart stopped in the process).  I really do wonder why she was at the game.        

The team spilled out from the locker room on to the field full of enthusiasm.  They had a team of little girls attending them for introductions.  I didn’t recognize a couple of the starters.  I did notice Audriana “Audrey” Chavez wasn’t in, so she was still injured.  I saw a co-worker appear down in front shooting the introduction and said a quick “Hello,” to her.  Her daughter was out there with the little girls.  (Said co-worker hates me, which is NOT how I feel about her.  I was trying to be polite.)  There was even a live Anthem for today’s match as well.         

First Half
I hate to put in the spoilers right up, but this match reminded me of how great Dmitri Fong is in goal.  By way of this, most of my notes here seem to consist of her stopping shot after shot.  To avoid being too tedious, I’ll just highlight the best saves.  I hope I wasn’t just totally playing favorites while writing notes during the match on offense and defense.  Sometimes events on the far side of the field are a mystery as to who the participants are.  I do pay more attention to some players more than others based on what they’ve done before and how much I’ve seen them.   

The Aggies started off on the attack in the first minute and got a corner kick.  They kept up the pressure for about the first 20 minutes.  29’ left in the half, Aileen Galicia made a solo attack that had a chance to squirt in.  24’ Devin Hart made a crossing pass to Aileen, who made a shot that forced a save.  [Note to self for next year, write down who the opposing goalie is during the introductions.]  21’ Aileen made great steal and fired a crossing pass, but unfortunately no one was following her attack.  18’ Aileen got off a shot in front of the Roo goal, but it went wide.

It was also a physical contest.  27’ on the far side of the field, I caught the end of an altercation between an Aggie and a Roo, which ended in the UMKC player getting pushed down.  That was all the referee saw too, as he issued a yellow card.  The crowd went into an uproar as the Aggie player had been grabbed and held beforehand.  23’ Aileen was leveled.  This got the crowd going too.  19’ two girls took each other out.

I tried not to look at the program, because I didn’t want to know what the other team’s record was, but about halfway through I saw it while looking for something else.  Like Schrödinger’s Box, once I looked inside, the quantum indeterminacy of the quality of our opponent was revealed.  The Roos were undefeated in the WAC, which I’d guess would put them in first.  I hope my glance wasn’t the cause of them taking the offensive for the rest of the half.

20’ Dmitri caught a hard shot.  13’ a great jump and tip save.  This was followed by a catch on a corner kick.  Dmitri got off a long kick immediately after that led to an attack on the Roo net.  11’ another Roo corner, but this one found a header in front of the Aggie goal that went in.  0-1 Roos.  I didn’t get the scoring player’s name at the time, but the paper identified her as Hayden Burnett.  The PA just sort of muttered it in disappointment.  Calls came from the stands for “Fresh legs!” 

6’ the Aggies had a corner kick that was broken up.  Dmitri stopped a couple more shots, including a dive stop at 2’.  In the final minute, Kelly Burton hit the crossbar on the Roos’ goal.  Rebecca Mazzie took a final shot that also went high.  The Aggie bench was screaming in support during that last flurry of activity.    

          
Halftime
There was a contest that involved kicking and throwing a ball down the field.  They probably needed more than two participants to really make a spectacle out of it.  The baseball players played some hacky sack with a soccer ball in front of the stands.  They were pretty good.  The Old Man, instead of moving to the other end of the field as he usually does, plopped down next to the ball players in front of the grandstand.  A cute red head girl laid out on the Pistol Pete logo on field to get her picture taken.  And a kid walked by wearing a luchadore mask.

Danny chatted with the Old Man during the break and brought back news about the Aggie Women’s Basketball team.  They had had an open practice before yesterday’s volleyball game.  Hey, I checked their Twitter feed Friday night.  They didn’t say anything about it.  I might have gone early.  (Yeah, right.  I had trouble getting there at 11:00 am.)  The team looked good and the new coach, Brooke Atkinson, ran a tight ship.  I wonder how Brooke Salas and the new coach are getting along, since she seemed so close to Coach Trakh.  I’m sure the two coaches are pretty different in personal style, though Coach Atkinson wasn’t changing team’s style of play.  Danny and I both agreed that losing Ashley Ford and Blanche Alverson as assistant coaches was going be a terrible loss to our viewing enjoyment.      

The commentators behind me told a funny story about a kid soccer match.  Before playing, the coach yelled out to his team, “Who are we!”  The team answered back, “Arsenal!”  “Who are we!”  “Arsenal!”  “Who are we!”  “Arsenal!”  Somebody on the other team yelled out, “Are you sure!”  Even referees laughed. 

Second Half
The Roos did not rest on a one goal lead.  The ball spent most of the half in the Aggie end.  I haven’t seen all of their games and I’m no expert, but this might have been the Aggies’ finest defensive half of the year.  In the first minute, Dmitri had to stop a point blank shot.  Thankfully, it was a weak one.  After another stop a couple of minutes later, the Aggies got a corner at 40’, which was cleared out. 

What followed seemed must have seemed like an eternity for the defenders.  36’ Cristina Bertoldo broke up an attack and started a breakaway.  34’ Kelly Burton broke up a potential one-on-one breakaway coming for the net.  33’ Cristina stripped a girl in front of the Aggie box and started another rush downfield.  This one lead to Aileen taking a shot that went high.  She came away holding her jaw like she’d taken a shot to the mouth, which is entirely possible. 

31’ Cristina got another steal.  29’ Dmitri made another jumping tip save.  27’ with some great effort, Aileen got in another shot that again went high.  25’ there was a great pass to Aileen, but she was tackled in the box to end the threat.  19’ there was a foul called right above the Aggie box.  The crowd was angry, and Dmitri may have yelled at the ref as well.  She managed to push out a free kick that went over the player wall. 

18’ Dmitri made a two-handed grab on a corner kick.  The Old Man started up a chant here.  The baseball players even joined in.  14’ Cristina kicked one out of the box on another one-on-one attack.  13’ Dmitri came out to stop a shot.  7’ Cristina took the ball again and started charging downfield, probably in sheer frustration.  She got well past midfield before passing it.  As a senior, she was definitely playing like this was her last home game in her hometown. 

6’ Dmitri came out to stop another shot.  I’m underselling her effort here.  There were more saves.  Devin came in late.  She may have been out for most of the half.  5’ she made a way offsides pass to Aileen.  Again, this was likely a move made in frustration.  2’ Aileen finally had a good chance in the box, but was thwarted from getting off the shot.  That was all as time expired.  Roos 1, Aggies 0 final.   

Let’s sum up this match quickly: Roos 13 shots on goal, Aggies 2.  Losing this game by one goal was a minor miracle just based on that.  Most of those Roo shots weren’t easy stops either and those shots don’t even include defensive plays that broke up rushes that almost certainly would have resulted in a goal.  That said, it’s hard to come away from this game feeling totally defeated or embarrassed.  UMKC is a very good team.  They tenaciously hung to one goal lead and never let up on the attack.  The Roos likely didn’t even make any glaring mistakes on offense or defense.  The Aggies were lacking some offense, but otherwise played just as tough and smart, never let the game get out of hand, and made the Roos earn their victory. 

After the match, the girls came out to midfield and waved to the crowd.  The fans gave them a hearty round of applause for their efforts this afternoon.  After a little stretching, the girls lined up for the Senior Day ceremonies for Danielle Smith, Cristina Bertoldo, and Devin Hart.  The PA read off each of the girls’ accomplishments, then Coach Delgado gave his own comments about them, choking up a bit.  Each of the girls spoke to the crowd as well.  Danielle had a funny and touching prepared statement.  “Hi, I’m Cristina Bertoldo,” started Cristina to a large contingent of friends and family.  She seemed to feeling ecstatic and overwhelmed with sadness at the same time.  She was named as the team captain.  What was said about Devin’s comeback from injuries to lead the team in goals this season and pushing her teammates in training was impressive.    

Afterward, the PA told the fans to come on down and meet the girls.  From the Coach to the PA to seeing the girls’ outreach in the community, the Aggie Soccer program uniformly encourages fans to meet the players.  This is a good strategy since these young women really are the best part of the sport.  I went down with Marty, who was eager to see her young friends.  I saw Dmitri crossing the field.  I really wanted to talk to her, but she was intercepted by her parents.  I did get to wave at her and congratulate her on a great game. 

We came up on a knot of players with Amy Gulczynski, Jody Hernandez, and Aileen Galicia.  They all knew Marty by name.  The lady makes a good impression on people.  Tuti Tirado came by and I think she still remembered me.  I asked how her family was doing in Puerto Rico.  She said they were fine and she was planning a visit soon.  Tuti has may have the brightest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. 

I got to talk to Aileen about the game for a moment.  I asked about Audrey, who I didn’t see at all today, and about Devin, who had a quiet game and I noticed she was gimpy after the match.  They were injured, but they should both be back for the next games.  Aileen was looking forward to a rematch with their offense at full strength.  She was a bit frustrated today.  She’d been told to wait for numbers when she had the ball, but “I was getting swarmed three to one holding on to it.”  The girls I saw didn’t seem discouraged or mad at all about the result.  The match was almost an affirmation that they are a good team. 

We said our goodbyes.  Aileen gave Marty a hug.  I was going to shake her hand, but she put her arms around me and gave me a big hug too.
 
❤❤ Wow! ❤❤

As fiercely as her passion burns in competition, Aileen’s heart is still warm and tender.  I wonder if I was blushing afterward.  Sigh. 

We did find Cristina before leaving the field.  She was as bubbly and pleasant as ever, as I congratulated her on her great effort today.  I did ask about her rush downfield.  She asked if I saw her sister-in-law, who I used to work with.  I saw her and her new baby, but wasn’t able to say “Hello.”  I’d hoped to see Devin before leaving, but missed her on the field.  Outside the stadium, we found the some of the Roos team sitting on the curb, waiting for their bus.  “Oh my God, they left you guys behind!”  We did congratulate them on a good game.  They looked like a nice bunch of girls.  

I’m sure I’m not qualified to sum up the Aggies’ season (which isn’t over).  I missed the program’s two biggest wins this season (Miners and Lobos) and still regret not going to the Scrimmage before that.  What I can say from what I’ve seen is that this program has definitely taken a big step forward over last year and probably all of the preceding years.  This has mostly been thanks to some great goaltending from Dmitri and general defense.  Recruiting more offense seems like a must.  Too many attacks have consisted of Aileen running down the field by herself.  She doesn’t need to slow down; she needs teammates who can keep up.  I don’t know enough soccer strategy to suggest anything more technical. 
    
Weird, last year I’m not even sure why I went to a match and was nearly done with going by the end of the season.  This year I came back only because they’d won their final home game (10-29-16), which really lifted me up after a hard volleyball loss that morning.  As much as I’ve generally enjoyed the games this year, I’m still not a soccer fan.  I am a fan of the Aggies and these girls.  I’ve developed a deeper appreciation of the players from watching them live and up close.  Okay, I’ll be back next year if I’m able.    


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