Big game day for Aggie Soccer against the Arizona Wildcats. I definitely took the day off for this, though I wasn’t hugely confident. I got a nice surprise yesterday, when a former co-worker gave me a Wave the Wonder Dog statue. He’d bought some Football season tickets and had gotten an extra one with the purchase. That was nice of him. I’m going to have to do a ***Wave Adoration post*** in the near future to the show off the statue and my other Wave items.
Valeria Guha, our lovely star goalie, also had a good week being named C-USA Goalie of the Week.
I had a busy day washing my car, doing a bunch of ironing, trying out the new burger place in the mall, Deputy Dawgs (okay, but not as good as Legend Burger), and getting a haircut. That was a good idea, since I ran into the Hot Marketing Girl (above) at the courtesy table. I thought she’d graduated. I was told her name and forgot it, and also that she’s going out with a baseball player, which I didn’t forget. This was the first time I’d interacted with her. She was actually very nice.
With her was Sydney McIntosh. She’d graduated from the Volleyball team last year. Syd was now a Marketing Grad Assistant. She was very nice, too (and looking good). She was handing out giveaway flags. I politely declined. I said I’d given away the previous souvenir flag to Football star, Shiyazh Pete. They were impressed that I knew him. (“Let me help you with that name you dropped there.”)
I got a courtesy cup of water this time, but didn’t really need it. It was a pleasant night at the Soccer Complex with a cool breeze blowing and the stands in the shade. The stands were also nearly full a half hour before the game. I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be many Arizona fans. (Though I thought I saw, former Aggie Volleyball star from Arizona, Jordan Abalos’ mom there in an AZ shirt.) The Outlaw Pep Band was here to provide musical accompaniment. The field was looking a bit better though still not as good as green Kill Hill next door.
The Aggies made a circle before the game. Unlike previous circles this season, this was no party, it was a rather solemn, quiet affair. Rachel Haan was a starter tonight. Meredith Scott was especially introduced as being from Tucson, where Arizona U is located. I wonder if she had applied to play there. And, there were three Aggie kneelers for the Anthem compared to none for Arizona, which was interesting given how many black players Arizona has. (If you don’t want to be called out, just stand.)
First Half
The Band was an immediate source of entertainment with their music and some chanting, “Kick that ball away!” and “Pass it to me!” were heard, along with doing a Tomahawk Chop. 41’ left in the half, Meredith, our only scoring option to this point, was tripped in the AZ box. There was no call, but the Aggies got a corner kick. Marlee Cavitt made a long pass that gave Andrea Alvarenga a chance, but it was kicked away. That was the two shortest players on the field on the attack.
35’ AZ had a corner that was kicked away. Back the other way, Bianca Chacon threw down a defender and passed to Meredith, who took the shot, which was caught by AZ keeper, Olivia Ramey. 29’ Jena Johannes pushed down an attacking AZ player. Again, no call. A minute later, Rachel got faked out at midfield and that started an AZ attack. There was some dangerous play around the Aggie net, but no shot was taken.
A couple of young men came in with interesting t-shirts. One was in a Hulkamania wrestling shirt and the other was in Martin Truex NASCAR shirt. Unexpected. 25’ Amaya Simoni-Walters had an open look for a long shot, but passed instead. The attack was kicked away. Right after, Ariana Ellison, straight out of Hulkamania, wrestled down an attacking player on defense. 22’ Meredith got kneecapped at midfield. The Aggies had chances off the free kick, but no shot.
20’ AZ took a shot outside the goalie box. It curled wide, but Val caught it. 19’ Rachel leveled a player at midfield, which was unsurprising given that she was the tallest player on the field. The AZ player had to come out for concussion protocols. The game was not as chippie as I’m describing it. There didn’t seem to be any animosity. Meredith made a solo attack off the stoppage that was broken up.
17’ Rachel deflected a shot on goal inside the box with her rear end. Maybe not her proudest moment, but that was useful. Back the other way, Marlee and Meredith had a breakaway, but it was broken up. That was finally good attack attempt. Arizona came right back with their best chance to this point. Aurora Gaines had a wide open look and went top shelf and hit the crossbar. The crowd groaned when she took the shot and exhaled at the miss.
A long kick came downfield out-of-bounds near the stands. The ballgirl made a play on it and got a smattering of applause. The teams had a hydration break with the stoppage. An assistant coach talked to Rachel. The ref had to whistle twice to get AZ to come back out to play. A couple of Aggie subs came in.
12’ Marlee intercepted a long pass with a header. The shot knocked her to the ground. Kennedy Herrera shined on defense on the next attack. She headed a shot away, kicked a shot away, and made a slide kick to break up a pass. 4’ Jessica Bedolla whiffed on a wide open shot in the Aggie box. I’m sure she wishes she could have that one back (and that would happen later).
The Aggies seemed to be flagging on defense and that was even with them always keeping three back on their end of the field. Usually, it’s one or two when the Aggies are attacking, sometimes even just Val alone. I didn’t even hear Val yelling at the team to press the attack. 2’ Marlee was double-teamed on defense in the corner. She managed to out-dribble the attackers. That got a cheer from the crowd. Before the half ended, AZ made a long shot across the Aggie goal.
Halftime
We’re knotted at nil. It was also 1’s across the board on shots on goal and corners. It’s been a defensive struggle for both teams. The Outlaw Pep Band performed with their Mariachi dancers. They sound good. Pistol Pete was there, but was out of costume. He should have been leading the cheering. Were his vest and chaps at the cleaners? Syd danced by and tossed t-shirts to the crowd. On field, the Aggie girls huddled close and seemed very serious. They’d have the wind at their backs for this half.
Second Half
AZ pressed to start. 42’ left in the game, they made a wide shot on goal. 40’ AZ finally hit paydirt. On the wing, Marissa Arnst and Rose Calkins got the ball to Bedolla at the net for the fairly easy kick in. It ran like a set play from practice. 1-0 AZ. (I’m not pretending that I saw the players involved. I got that from the official scoring.) A couple of minutes later, Rachel broke up a near repeat of the play with a hard shove. (No call thankfully, since that was in the Aggie box.)
The Aggies were briefly playing with four back. I have to question this strategy, since it wasn’t helping. 37’ AZ got off a close shot that went wide. After that, the Aggies finally started playing up. 33’ Marlee made a long rolling pass to Meredith. Olivia fell on it before it got to her. Right after, Bianca made a shot into the side of the AZ net.
30’ subs came in for both teams. 29’ Jena broke up an attack in the box. This lead to an AZ corner. Their shot was headed wide. 28’ an AZ shot hit the goal post. A follow up shot went over the net. I think we’re getting peppered here.
24’ Rachel was knocked down at midfield. That surprised me. Who was big enough out there to take her down? She had trouble getting up and was limping afterward and had to come out. Hopefully, she’ll be okay. Ari made a solo attack while this was happening and her shot was just high. 19’ Daniela Portillo was in and, though closely guarded, managed to take a shot at the center of the goal, which was caught.
15’ back the other way, AZ was swarming the Aggie box. Aurora found Bedolla at the top of the box. She made a mid-air kick and hooked it into the net past a diving Val. 2-0 AZ. The crowd began to dessert. (As if it being 0-0 at the half didn’t run off a few fans. That’s soccer.)
14’ the Aggies got a decent chance on a free kick. The ball went into a crowd in the AZ box before the play was blown dead. (Again, that’s soccer.) 12’ Emma O’Neill, just in on defense, took a yellow card for rough play. Off the free kick, Val had to make two saves on the ensuing play. She got the biggest ovation from the crowd for the night for that effort. Val was yelling now at her teammates.
10’ the Aggies got a corner, but sent in some subs before the kick. Meredith came out, which seemed like an odd choice. She had been knocked down hard right before this, so the Coach might been concerned about her. 6’ Azalie Floriano, who don’t I think I’ve mentioned before, took a shot over the AZ goal. It’s a good thing they moved the scoreboard away from the north goal. It would have taken several hits tonight. 1’ AZ had a final corner. Time expired. Arizona wins 2-0.
While shots on goal were 4 to 2 for AZ (and the same for corners), but the shots were 13 to 4. Coach Baarts had a good strategy on tap for the first half, but seemed to be playing for a scoreless draw. The Aggies could have gotten a lucky goal playing defensively, but otherwise, it seemed inevitable that with enough chances, Arizona was going to score. After that first goal, the Aggies needed to press and take their chances. The Coach didn’t seem to trust the defense to work short-handed or the offense to be able to pressure the opposing team.
Jessica Bedolla gets an easy Gameball for scoring the two Arizona goals. For the Aggies, the goal posts get a Gameball for blocking two sure goals. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) Jena Johannes gets a nod for her effort on defense. Valerie Guha had the play of night with that double save late in the second half. We’ll give the refs an acknowledgement, as well. For a large crowd, I wasn’t hearing too many complaints about the calls. What sucked was not getting to see Meredith ham it up after a goal. More ham!
The team came out and applauded the crowd and the Band. Arizona celebrated like this was a good win for them, so that was compliment. Leaving the stands, I ran into Wave and his entourage. I got to pet him. He’s a good dog. It was kind of hard to get down after this loss after that.
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