NM State Aggies vs UNM Lobos Soccer 8-18-24

Still no damn phone numbers!  I keep hoping I’ll get some digits on one of these autograph days, but it’s not happening!  At least I was happy about game, I guess, whatever.

 

It was hot today.  Real hot.  There were a few scattered clouds overhead, but no shade and only an occasional cool breeze.  The parking lot was full when I showed up 20 minutes early.  There was a good crowd already in the stands for the I-25 Rivalry game with the UNM Lobos.  It full be full up later when the game started, even in spite of the heat.  I found Fan Danny there.  He already looked in bad shape before the game started.  He’d get worse.

 

The Rangers were on the radio when I left.  I thought about bringing a radio, but thought it’d be too much trouble (to listen to them lose badly again).  Given that I was sitting near the Aggie Outlaw Pep Band, I never would have heard the game anyway.  A tubby Lobo fan was sitting in a big stadium chair on the south end of the field.  This area is sort of off-limits for fans, but I guess he had permission.  He had a team photographer with him and he’d wave a UNM flag during the game.  I was wondering where Aggie super-fan Tom was to combat him.  All of the players were standing for the Anthem, so no controversies today. 

 

First Half

The Lobos were cheering right off the bat.  The opening Aggie kick went to goalie, Valerie Guha.  A Lobo player ran up and blocked her kick.  Nothing came of it, though.  UNM wouldn’t have much to cheer about a couple of minutes later.  Ariana Leamons made a solo charge and passed it off to Meredith Scott for a goal that looked easy, 1-0 Aggies.  The crowd let off a big cheer.  Brooke Schultz ran to midfield and played up to the crowd.

 

41’ left in the half, the Lobos had a corner.  A resultant kick went straight to the sidelines and scattered the Folklorico dancers performing with the band.  Jena Johannes got knocked down hard in the Aggie box and had to come out.  The Lobos made a couple attacks afterward that went wide and then high on the goal. 

33’ it was Ariana again on a solo charge.  She made a chip shot that floated over the goalie and in to make it, 2-0 Aggies.  Funny thing is that she was completely nonchalant about it heading back to midfield.  A minute later, she made another rush at the net, but this time the Lobos double-teamed her.

 

30’ Shila Rasoul was in the middle of traffic in front of the UNM net and pounded a line drive straight in.  3-0 Aggies!  By this point, the crowd was getting tired from doing the Aggie fight song in the heat. 

 

The Lobos came back with a corner kick and then a free kick on the Aggie net.  On that second attack, Val knocked the ball away and Marlee Cavitt made a header to get it out of the box.  25’ a cloud passed overhead putting everyone in the shade.  There was almost a round of applause for it.  After an Aggie corner, the players took a hydration break.

 

The sun unfortunately came back out.  20’ a long shot by the Lobos flew wide by the net and a diving Val.  Several Aggie subs came in.  Jena cycled back into the game.  The band stopped playing for a minute to erect a pavilion over their stands to give themselves some shade. 

 

17’ off a Lobo free kick, Natalie DeGagne buried a long, top shelf shot into the corner.  3-1 Aggies.  It was a great shot.  Team captain (and my favorite), Mya Hammack, huddled the team together on field and gave them a quick talk. 

 

There was another cloud for cover.  It was nice while it lasted.  Danny was having a problem by this point.  The heat and some medication he’d had were taking him out.  He asked for help to leave, but found he was having trouble just getting up and he asked for an EMT.  I quickly found a security guard, who came over and talked to him.  She called over another guard and they were able to escort him out.  I’d have to wait until later to find out about him.

 

I wasn’t watching the game much while this was going on.  There was a collision in the Aggie box and an Aggie player went down.  A fan yelled out, “Better spend some more time in the weight room!”  Maybe that was a Lobo fan.  7’ Val blocked another shot.  There was another round of Aggie subs.  There was a last second Aggie corner before the half ended.  Aggies up 3-1.       

 

Halftime

The conflict wasn’t entirely over.  Mya ran over started wearing out the ref about something.  Finally, Coach Baarts had to run out and save her.  The stats were the Aggies up 3-1 on shots on goal, but down 3-2 in corners.  And there were two Aggie girls who took headers and got knocked to ground on them.  (No names.)

 

There as a Student $1k giveaway.  The first name drawn wasn’t present.  They called another name and luckily, the guy finally ran out on the field from the bathroom or the concessions before they pulled another name.  The Outlaw Pep Band came out and performed a few numbers to keep the crowd enthusiastic.  After playing, a couple of the band guys started dancing to the PA music and it was pretty hysterical.

 

I’d gotten a cup of water from a barrel up front when I came in.  (It was either that or $4 water at the concessions.)  I went back and found the barrel was empty.  Disappointing, but not as disappointing as the scuttlebutt I was hearing in the stands.  Some students behind me, who were tight with the Football team, were talking about how bad the team was going to be this year. 

 

Specifically, they were talking about the new starting quarterback.  He’d had a nervous breakdown in front of one of the girls and said (and she prefaced this saying, “Don’t tell anybody this”), “I’m no good.  I’m not ready.  I’m nowhere near as good as Diego.  I can’t handle it.  I’m gonna suck.”  I hope the team has a sports psychologist on staff.  Yeah, I said it was a bad sign when they put the tee-fetching dog on the poster instead of a player, but, hey, let’s play the games first and see how it goes before we bury the team.

  

Second Half

The band began the half playing Tank, one of my favorites.  Val had to catch two shots right off the bat.  40’ the Aggies countered and Loma McNeese took a shot from the front of the Lobo box that sailed high.  38’ scary moment as Val collected a loose ball and collided with Jena.  Valerie went down, but was okay.

 

36’ Brooke took a shot off an Ariana charge that also went high.  A minute later, the Lobos were coming towards the Aggie goal on a two-player breakaway.  Mya took a yellow card putting a hard stop to the rush.  A Lobo corner led to a free kick just outside the Aggie box.  Val made the save of the game with a flying punch to keep the ball out of the corner of the net.  The Lobos had another corner that was knocked out.

 

30’ mass Aggie subs.  Coach Baarts must have felt pretty good about their chances, as he actually took Mya out.  She usually plays the whole game.  29’ Ariana Ellison, with her arm in a cast, knocked out a Lobo attack.  Right after, UNM got a yellow for doing a sweep tackle on the sidelines and sending an Aggie to the ground.  An Aggie player pushed down a Lobo in retaliation, but got away with it.

 

The Aggies kept it in the Lobo end for a few minutes, before the Lobos got a terrific opportunity with an unguarded player right in front of the Aggie goal.  We all know what that means by now.  Say it with me, “Offsides.”  There was a hydration break for the players.  In addition, the PA announced the water barrel had been refilled for the fans.  Since there were announced autographs afterward, so I figured I’d better drink up. 

 

Mya came back in.  That was a good thing.  19’ a breakaway Lobo attack just missed a shot.  16’ more Aggie subs.  12’ I could hear Coach Baarts screaming across the field.  There was another good Lobo attack on the wing.  Mya got on the attacker and wouldn’t let her get by.  After a pass, the ball was forced out. 

 

11’ off an Aggie corner, Shila made an attack after a nice crossing pass.  Ari ran over the goalie in the process.  5’ Loma was double-teamed with the ball, well, more like assaulted.  A near fight broke out.  The line judge and the ref rushed in to break it up.  No cards were given.  That was the last major action of the game.  Aggies win 3-1.  I’d be more excited, but that was 45 brutal minutes in the sun with no scoring.  We’ll take it, though, for the win.

 

My players of the game are Ariana Leamons for an assist and a goal in the first half and to Valerie Guha and Mya Hammack for locking it down on defense in the second half.  Our final stats are 3-2 Aggies in shots on goal (the Aggies converted on all their shots, but that was all they took) and 5-3 Lobos in corners.  The team saluted the band and the crowd afterward.

 

Autographs

I got down to the field quick and got in line near the front.  Let’s do these autographs before I start to sizzle.  The team huddled in a circle with the coach.  I saw broadcaster, Jack Nixon, by the team.  (He wasn’t calling the game.  He was there as a fan.)  AD Mario Moccia was also in the circle.  He got sprayed with water after the coach spoke.  Coach Baarts, in turn, got a cooler of water dumped on his head.

 

I saw the security guard from earlier.  She told me that they took Danny into some air conditioning and he recovered.  He’d said he hadn’t come to the Thursday night game because he didn’t feel safe driving at night and he just about passed out here at a day game.  I don’t know how much more I’ll see of him at Aggie Sports.

 

Time for autographs.  Valerie Guha was all smiles when I told her she’d had a great game.  She said, “Thank you for coming.”  Awww.  I told Ariana Leamons that she needed to work on her post-goal celebrations.  Her teammates agreed.  Two standout players were there injured, Xitlaly Hernandez and Bianca Chacon.  I think Bianca said she was done for the season.  X thought she’d be back in a couple games. 

 

I congratulated Shila Rasoul and Meredith Scott on their goals.  I called Meredith, “The Equalizer” for her goal on Thursday.  She seemed to like it.  I asked Jena Johannes if she was okay.  She was fine.  I told Loma McNeese that she could have taken those girls.  Loma was more focused on scoring her first goal of the season.   

 

When I got to Mya Hammack, I pointed at her picture on the poster, “You look so darling cute here.  There are you are mugging for the camera.”  I might have gotten blush out of her.  Her teammates were amused.  “Say, how’d that talk go with the ref at halftime?”  Once again, I set her off on a tirade about the ref, whom she’d apparently had previous run-ins with.  She said was trying protect Val from being abused on kicks.  The last time I’d asked her about an interaction with a ref (9-17-23), this same thing had happened.  I gotta stop setting her off, even if it is adorable.   

 

Walking back out to my truck, I noticed my belt and pants were really loose.  I think I lost several pounds over the course of the match.  My stomach let off a massive growl as I walked back to my truck.  To fix that, I headed over to Whataburger.  I drove past the Convention Center on the way there.  The parking lot was full for the Comic Con.  I really would have liked to have gone this weekend, but there was only like an hour-and-a-half left before it closed.  Anyway, great meal and a great day to be an Aggie.