NM State Aggies vs University of the Southwest Mustangs Soccer 8-12-21

 Every baseball game I went to in the spring, I was convinced might be my last in-person Aggie sporting event.  That’s just the way things have been and have gotten no better.  When the Volleyball schedule came out yesterday, I noticed on the Aggie sports website that the Soccer team was playing an exhibition game today.  With no current restrictions, I felt I had to jump on going if I wanted to see any live games this fall.  In any case, it was free admission and scheduled for the morning, so there was no conflict with work for me.

 

I was concerned about the weather forecast, which was for rain.  I woke up to an overcast sky and a cool temperature.  I found that encouraging for comfortable outdoor viewing.  Before I left, the sun had started coming out.  I slapped on a little sunblock as an afterthought and left.    

 

By the time I got there, the sun was fully out and those of us there were placed in a combination tanning booth and oven.  My sunblock application and even my umbrella, which I’d taken more for the possibility rain, didn’t keep me from getting sunburned.  I’d taken water and left it in my truck.  There was a water barrel at the courtesy table, but I only picked up the schedule poster.  I kind of deserved the instant dehydration. 

 

This is too dour a description for what was an otherwise pleasant outing.  The number one thing I wanted to get out of going to soccer today I got when I as soon as I got out of my truck.  It was that was the smell of freshly cut grass on a field.  Nothing else like it.  That was rejuvenating.  The Football team was out on the practice field next door.  Like I just said, there was a poster available out front, but no program, so I had to look the players up later. 

 

There was the obvious change to the field.  Four large light poles were finally set up at the corners.  According to the schedule, most of the home games would be under the lights.  This has to be to the relief of the players.  I’d have to think it would also increase attendance.  Still, no more 4:00pm Thursday games where I could come into work late.     

 

A nice little crowd was there for soccer.  Given it was an 11:00am Thursday exhibition game, there wasn’t going to be a big crowd.  There were a few parents of the University of the Southwest players there.  Now don’t confuse USW with Southwest University in El Paso.  I think.  I have no idea where the university is.  Much of the rest of the crowd were students, including a very attractive young woman with a short sassy hairstyle that really had my attention.  Her and her friends complained a bunch about the heat and hid under a big umbrella.  Several fans were up on the grassy knoll and getting shade under the trees there.  There weren’t any ball kids working the game, but for the most part, the ball stayed on the field of play.

 

The PA system seemed to not be working very well.  It was either had a bad short or they were using some temporary loudspeakers cranked all the way up.  The teams were introduced.  The Mustangs looked a bit like a high school JV team in size comparison to the Aggies.  I recognized most of the Aggies.  Mckenna Gottschaulk was the Aggies’ starting goalie.  She’d split time with Dmitri Fong last year.  The Aggie girls seemed pretty jacked up before the match.  T-shirts were tossed into the crowd.  One of the Sports Marketing interns was really cute, but I didn’t see her again.

 

I had to check, but my last soccer recap was 10-24-19.  That’s a while back.  My last mention of Aggie Soccer was 4-7-21.  I was lamenting missing Dmitri’s last home game for weather concerns.  I’ve gone to sunny-looking games and gotten rained on, but I’ve also missed games over the threat of rain that didn’t materialize.  You never know.  I still feel bad.

 

First Half

The sun was out right at the start, but would play peek-a-boo with the clouds for the rest of the game.  I kept putting my umbrella up and down.  A breeze would go in and out to cool things off.  The Aggies made a couple of attacks in the first couple of minutes.  Mckenna was good and loud directing traffic, just like Dmitri.  She’d get tested immediately.  At 40’ left in the half, Josie Crump on USW intercepted a pass in the Aggie end and took an unmolested shot.  A minute later, they had a free kick that Mckenna had to stop.

 

A USW player was run over at midfield right after.  Next door, football practice broke up.  The players started their march over to the locker room from the field.  “Go Aggies!”  They cheered on a couple of shots on goal.  One went into the side of the net.  Right after, Emma Smith seemingly fed Xitlaly Hernandez for a goal but it was waved off on probably an offisides call.  The football players were in an uproar. 

There was another shot, but this one was on a USW player on her nose.  The trainers came out, but she was okay and kept playing.  Shea O’Connor powered into the Mustang box, but her shot was deflected.  She took a left-footed shot at the corner of the goal afterward.  Shea was looking very trim compared to the last time I saw her.  I don’t know if that transformation happened last year or earlier this year.

29’ Success!  Shea found Corey Kizer standing in front of the USW goal.  Corey put her head to it and put the ball into the goal.  1-0 Aggies.  There was an immediate follow up attack that missed.  Shea made a good fake on a defender.  “She broke her ankles!  How’d that ground taste!”  Here begins the running commentary from some guys behind me.  23’ the USW goalie stopped a point blank header.  She’s Emileigh Lara.  I’ll be calling her name some more later.     

                                

21’ the Mustangs got a corner in the Aggie end.  There was a scrum at the net.  Mckenna managed to kick the ball away.  This led into a hydration break.  I guess this has been implemented at all levels of soccer.  Coach Baarts took the opportunity to sub out nearly the whole the team, except Mckeena.  #22, Hannah Rivera, came on to play the nearside of the field.  Ooh, she’s pretty.

19’ the subs had a rough opening minute.  There were four defenders back in the Aggie end, but Mckenna had to come out to kick an attack away.  A black bird landed on the field to watch or perhaps coach.  14’ Gianna Valenti took a shot from outside the USW box.  Emileigh stopped the roller.  A couple of minutes later, Mia Montano came in to play goal for the Aggies.  The Mustangs had also made some subs.  #25 Jennifer Schroeder was hard not to notice as she is an impressive specimen.  She’s probably the tallest girl on their team and exotically good-looking with her curly hair pulled back tight. 

 

Some football players came over to the stands to watch and got there at the right time.  3’ there was a slowly developing attack on the USW goal.  Small and wiry attacker, Jocelyn Tallent-Burleson, and Emileigh both went down in the box, as the ball slowly rolled into the goal.  2-0 Aggies.  Kaitlynn Melton got the assist.  2’ Jocelyn was again in the box and put it in with an assist from Cindy Alvarez.  3-0 Aggies.  I basically missed seeing the goal as it happened so quick.  I’ve resigned myself to missing goals when watching live soccer.  It’s going to happen even if you’re not taking notes during the match.

 

Halftime

I went out to get some water and missed another t-shirt toss.  There wasn’t any entertainment other than a mom chasing after her toddler, who had wandered out on to the field.  The bird was back on the field briefly.  This isn’t foreshadowing; I’m just reporting.  A cool remix of Stevie Windwood’s Valerie played over the PA.  I think they got it fixed.  Clouds were building up around the mountains, but they wouldn’t come into play during the game.  The crowd thinned out a bit, but were replaced by some more football players. 

 

Second Half

As the teams switched sides, Hannah Rivera was now playing on the far side, which disappointed me.  Admittedly, this half was mostly soccer at its worst: the ball just being batted back-and-forth aimlessly.  However, it was very entertaining with the constant commentary by the footballers, particularly one guy.  Soccer, for some reason, really seems to bring out vocal fans.  He was definitely better than the typical soccer parent.  I wish I’d had this guy with me when I went to go see Jungle Cruise with my dad last week.  The movie still would have been bad, but much funnier. 

 

32’ left in the half, Katie Martinez got the ball in front of the USW goal, but could only manage an awkward kick off a high pass.  Emileigh made a save right after on a corner kick.  “Hit that ho!”  That’s the first time I’ve heard that the Soccer Complex.  Thanks, football guy.

 

“There’s fouls in soccer!  Whaaaat?”  Indeed there are.  The Mustangs got a free kick outside the Aggie box.  The kick went right into one of the girls making the wall.  “GD!  Crackback!”  “Slide!”  “You got no burners!”  “Where is you goin’!”  I could no longer keep up recapping the action and writing down the commentary.  I had to choose one or the other here. 

 

“She got body!”  One of the girls on the Aggies got the guy’s attention.  See, I’m not the only one who notices the pretty girls out there.  24’ mass Aggie subs.  Mckenna came back into goal.  The whole group of football players called to her.  Sheepishly, she gave them a little wave.  Back to the action, “Get that ho!”  (These are direct quotes, by the way.  I’m not embellishing.)    

 

22’ water break.  Mya Hammock on the Aggies chatted amicably with the one of the referees on the sidelines before play resumed.  The football players called down to her, but she ignored them.  Xitlaly took a pass.  The footballers went crazy.  They must know her.  31’ Emileigh made a great save.  What’s the color commentary say?  “We got three goals on yo’ ass!” 

 

20’ Hannah Leitner charged the USW net and had a one-on-one, but was stopped.  “You gotta finish!  Go to the basket!  Wrong sport.  Damn.”  17’ mass Mustang subs.  The Aggies made another charge across the length of the field.  “Take that coast-to-coast!”  16’ Emileigh made a great mid-air catch.  “Where is you goin’!  Hall of Famer!”  13’ she made another great catch.  At this point, even the footballers were impressed.  “She could play DB.”  12’ another stop.  “Score a goal!”  At this point, I wanted to see a goal, too.  I wanted to see this guy’s reaction.

 

8’ our two-goal hero, Jocelyn, was back in.  The guys had heard about her exploits and started calling to her.  6’ another catch by Emileigh, this one while falling backward.  “Who 3-4?  She look nice?”  I’m sure Landy Williams appreciated the recognition.  2’ Bianca Chacon finally gets the Aggies another goal with an assist from Shea.  Emileigh made a heroic attempt on the attack in front of her, but the ball crossed the line.  4-0 Aggies for the final score.  The footballer ran up and down across the grandstand in celebration.  1’ Megan Ormsun hit the post on the final shot.  The guys let her have it for not finishing.

 

“Oh yeah, Black squad!”  (The Aggies were wearing black today.)  The team came out and applauded the crowd afterward.  The final stats were 4 goals on 12 shots for the Aggies.  The Mustangs were held to only 2 shots on goal.  Our gameballs go to Emileigh Lara on USW for her play in goal.  The score could have been worse for them without her effort.  For the Aggies, obviously, Jocelyn Tallent-Burleson gets the nod with 2 goals.  Shea O’Connor gets another with her 2 assists.  

 

On the way out, Marketing Director, Nicole Sack was being mobbed by the football players getting schedule posters.  I think they went back to the field looking for autographs (or, more likely, digits).  I wonder if they’re going to have an official autograph day this season.  Things are too up in the air to know what’s going to happen in even the near future.       

I stopped by a new nearby Cajun seafood place that I’d gotten an ad for in the mail.  It was run by some Chinese people.  I got a couple of fish fillets and an order of noodles.  The meal was . . . ah . . . let’s say that I would have been better off going to Long John Silvers for the fish and the Japanese place in the mall for noodles.  They did give me plenty of food, which I ended up having to save half of for the next day. 

 

In spite of spending the rest of my afternoon rehydrating and resting, I was still heat flustered going to work later.  I ended up in the computer room at one point under one of the vents blowing cold air.  We’d had some snow cones at work the day before.  I really wish that had happened today instead.  Night games are a great idea.  Still, that was fun and I definitely appreciated the break in my usual daily routine.