The weather forecast for today was for a 100% chance of
rain. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever
seen a 100% chance of rain forecast in this area before. The rain started the night before and
continued off and on during the day. It
never got really hard, but I wouldn’t want to have sat out in it. Thankfully, the rain let up right before game
time. That’s about as lucky as you can
get as a fan at an outdoor event on a day with a 100% chance of rain. Unfortunately, that was all the luck we were
going to have for this match.
I was going to be meeting Ron at the park, since we both
had to go to work afterward. It kind of
sucks not being able to go out for diner afterward. When I got there, the grandstand was covered
in wet grass cuttings. I chatted with
Danny, who was there. He said they’d
just cut the grass before the match. As
an alumnus of South Dakota, he also
pointed out that I was wearing their colors with my jacket (worse, it also
matches the UNM Lobo cherry
color). I’d foregone any Aggie gear
today, not wanting to get anything wet.
I was just wearing my NM State
button on the jacket.
It was actually a much more pleasant day than the
previous matches I’d went to this year.
It was cool and overcast with occasional drizzles. There were some picturesque
low clouds passing by the Organ Mountains in the background. The 4:00 start and the weather initially
seemed to scare away the crowd, except for a small hardcore group of Aggie fans
(yeah, that’s me) and an equal number of SDU fans, who came with their
team. A couple of fans had set up a tent
on the sidelines, which seemed like a good idea for today. However, shortly after the match started,
once again, a crowd suddenly materialized.
Most of the student athletes that were usually there, weren’t, but at
least the more obnoxious parents also weren’t there or stayed quiet.
Ron came in just before the match too. He’d gone by the Pan-Am ticket office and gotten an Aggie Country Pass like I
had. I’ve already used mine for 8 games
and Ron isn’t available to go to weekday night games with his work
schedule. He said he did the math and
that it would still work out to save him money.
I hope so. I was really glad he
came, because I was able to borrow one of his waterproof cushions to sit on,
instead of the wet towel on the metal bleachers I was using. (My cushion and seat weren’t going to work
well in the rain, so I didn’t bring them.)
On field, I noticed Dmitri
Fong working out with the goalies.
She looked ready to go, though Ashley
Martin did start. There were only a
couple of kids there, so the goalies would have to shag their own balls behind the
goals during the match. During the
introductions there was a notable absence.
Aggie star offensive player, my dear Aileen Galicia, wasn’t in the lineup. I don’t know why she was out, though I did
notice a player on the sidelines on crutches.
I didn’t see her get injured in their last game in Albuquerque (9-14-18), but it could have happened when I wasn’t watching. I’d heard Coach Baarts on the Aggie
Coaches Show yesterday describe SDU as a tough play. This was going to make it a lot harder.
The wet weather seemed to discourage the staff from
putting anything out on the courtesy table, which included the program. This meant I was working without a net at the
soccer match (see what I did there) in terms of identifying the players. Apart from the Aggies I knew, people in the
crowd were shouting out some of the girls’ names. They were actually mostly encouraging,
instead of coaching or criticizing. The
crowd was unnaturally quiet during the match.
Maybe the gloomy weather had subdued them. I was able to hear the girls on field
shouting at each other and even Coach Baarts yelling on the other side of the
field.
First Half
55 seconds in, the Coyotes
worked the ball into the Aggie goalie box and scored. The Aggie defense had completely broken down
and Ash had no chance to stop it. #3 Alexis Mitchell was credited with what
looked like a point blank shot. As bad
as that was, it got worse when I got to work later and was able to look at the
stats for the match. The Coyotes didn’t
score the goal; it was an own goal where one of the defenders had tried to kick
out the ball and it deflected off another Aggie into the net. That whole play really looked awkward, but I
couldn’t figure out why at the time. 1-0 SDU.
The Aggies would come back with a couple of shots right
after. 42’ left in the half, Micaela Milavec had a header
chance. Jess McDow followed that with a booming kick at the top of the
box. 31’ there was a foul on a trip in
the SDU box. Jess took the free kick and
fired it over the goal. #1 Parker Rytz in goal for the Coyotes was
pretty tall, so it was going to be hard to get a shot over her.
27’ SDU took back the offensive with a shot. I have an incomprehensible note here which
seems to indicate that the Aggies had no defenders back for the play. The Coyotes also had a corner at 25’. The Aggies came back at 23’ as defender Kelly Burton took a long shot that was
caught. Team infidelity warning. 20’ #4 Taylor
Cotter came in for South Dakota. She
was so cute with her big, bright eyes, I thought she looked more like a
streamer from Twitch than a soccer
player. Her and Dizzykitten should
be playing Fortnight together. (Don’t know if you like video games Tay, but
I think you could make a living at it if you don’t have any other plans after
school.)
17’ Jess took another shot from well outside the
box. She really has a powerful leg on
her. 16’ Audrey Chavez came out. Ron
pointed out that a trainer was treating her.
She might have gotten a cut or hit on the head. 12’ Rebecca
Mazzie had probably the best Aggie shot of the day. Parker jumped and just tipped it out in
midair. The crowd actually went “Ooh!”
over the play.
10’ sprinkles started falling on the field. Umbrellas were deployed in the crowd. I considered offering to run alongside Taylor
to keep her dry with mine, but figured the players perhaps appreciated the
cooling rain. It was a short shower
anyway and the last for the day. 6’
there was a scrum around the SDU net.
Jess took another hard shot. 3’
Becca was tripped at midfield. SDU got
the questionable turnover and took a shot that went over the Aggie net. 1’ Ashley came sliding out to stop a shot
from #27 Zoe Anderson. She is very quick. Even with the lead, South Dakota only had 1 official
shot on goal for the half.
Halftime
There was no scheduled entertainment at the half, but
Dmitri came out with a trainer to workout at the net. This was definitely the best halftime show
they’ve ever put on. I figured she must
be getting warmed up for the second half.
Ashley had done a good job, but the coach must have wanted to see if
Dmitri was ready to play. I needed to
visit the bathroom for a minute. When I
got back, Dmitri was on the ground getting stretched out in an odd-looking
pose. Ron and some mummers in the crowd
said that she’d hurt herself going for a ball.
The coach and her teammates weren’t out of the locker room yet to see
it, so she stayed in and started the second half. I’m sure she wanted to play pretty bad.
Second Half
Dmitri got tested right away. 44’ she caught a soft liner. She bellowed at the team to play up. I could have heard her regardless of the level
of crowd noise. 41’ Katie Martinez and a SDU player got into it without either getting
a card. 41’ Alexa Barrera took a header shot which was caught. 40’ Dmitri caught a roller. 37’ Alexa got off a shot just over the
bar.
36’ the sun put in an appearance today. The girls probably didn’t appreciate it as I
could see them sweating more on field after.
35’ Becca threw down a defender at midfield. I’m not sure if it was payback against the
same player that had tripped her. 34’
foul in the Aggie box. Oh, boy. The PK by #28 Taryn LaBree went right in.
The goal wasn’t even announced and credited. 2-0
SDU. That hurt.
31’ Michaela came out limping, as her foot may have been
stepped on. 27’ Parker stopped a roller
on the SDU goal. I didn’t catch who shot
it. 22’ Zoe got loose on a breakaway and
just flat out ran right past the Aggie defender. The girl has afterburners. 19’ Audrey knocked a girl down in the Aggie
box. Going back and reading this, I can
see that this game was pretty rough.
13’ off a corner kick, I have Katie taking a hard header
shot on goal. Audrey might have been hit
in the face on the play. (Or I might not
have seen the play well enough to attribute it correctly.) The coach sent in a bunch of subs. Several girls that I haven’t seen in before
came into this game. 8’ Taryn LaBree
rolled in another goal. 3-0 SDU. It was another awkward-looking play where the
Aggie defense completely broke down.
A lot of the crowd deserted at this point. A couple of minutes later, South Dakota sent
in six subs to clear their bench. #16 Maddison Sullivan came in. She was really cute like Taylor, but had a
different hair color. They looked enough
alike at a distance, that I thought they were sisters, until I got a look at
their names on the roster.
Alexa got in two more shots at the SDU goal. I think she’s going to be good in the
future. If Aileen’s out for an extended
period of time, let’s hope the future is the Aggies’ next the game. With a minute left, Dmitri made a great kick
save and followed it up with a jump block.
That’s our star goalie.
Unfortunately, she came up limping right after. The coach certainly saw that. At least I got to see her shine for a moment
before she goes back on the DL.
3-0
South Dakota was our final. Both teams had 5 shots on goal, though the
Aggies were up 16 to 9 in total shots. So,
they’re taking shots, but not getting good ones and converting. The team has lost more games for lack of
offense than defense even though they have been playing in a more offensive
style. It may be that the team simply
doesn’t have the personnel to run in the style that Coach Baarts is trying to
use (especially without Aileen), since Coach
Delgado set up this team to play in a more defensive style. That’s about as deep as my thinking is going
to get on soccer theory.
The Coyote team went to midfield and waved to their fans
standing at the rail. The Aggies
retreated to their locker room. “Now we
know what the team plays like without Aileen,” I said to Ron as we were
leaving. I felt bad for him. That wasn’t a great game to have dropped $140
on for a season pass. At work, I felt
worse for myself as I watched ***Aggie Volleyball** lose in 5 sets via the
Internet. (I’ll cover that later.) We’re both planning on coming back next
Friday for their evening game, but perhaps with diminished expectations.
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