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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