NM State Aggies vs Dixie State Trailblazers Soccer 10-30-21

My love/hate relationship with Aggie Soccer continues.  I’ve gone to five games this season.  (I’ve only gone to three Volleyball games.)  I’ve seen four wins.  (Umm. . . err . . . spoilers.)  I’ve gone to games in in-climate conditions.  I’ve went when there were better things on TV, especially tonight as the World Series was on.  I partially didn’t buy an Aggie Country Pass because I’d written off soccer, along with Women’s Basketball.  I’d also assumed everything was going to be shutdown again by now. 

 

And yet, here I am again.  I’d called Ron on Friday and talked about the World Series.  I felt obligated to mention that Aggie Soccer was playing Saturday night.  I sort of assumed he’d say he wasn’t able to go or wasn’t interested and then I’d have to decide whether I wanted to go by myself.  “Yeah, let’s go,” he said almost as though there wasn’t a question as to going. 

 

I told my dad I was going, but before Ron picked me up to get dinner the next day, he called to say he was getting a pizza and wanted to know if I wanted to come over to watch.  I had to decline.  Ron and I went to Arby’s and brought it back to my apartment.  I had a Beef & Cheddar and it was juicy and delicious on a wonderfully fresh bun.  Ron used a coupon to buy two Ruben sandwiches for himself.  He said afterward, “I wish I’d just had one and a half.” 

 

Lacking any other sports on at the time, we watched Zoombies on the Comet network as we ate.  It was like a zombie movie, but the zombies were animals in a zoo.  “It’s no Sharktopus,” I said.  There was a really good looking woman in it, which was the only reason to explain why we were watching.  There was sort of a Jurassic Park vibe to the movie.  Since they used a bunch of CGI (poorly) in this, I felt they missed an opportunity to instead do a movie about zombie dinosaurs.  It’s not like the producers of this movie would have said that idea was too dumb.

 

The World Series between the Braves and the Astros just came on when it was about time to leave.  Ron immediately started getting into it, but since he’d already said we were going to PQ Treats for dessert, we had to go.  “Why are we going to soccer?” he asked.  “You picked this,” I answered.  This time, as opposed to last time when OD’d on mint, I got a sensible Cheesecake/Banana Frozen Tornado that I enjoyed. 

 

We were running late and ran into a large crowd around the Pan Am Center.  I’d noticed that Aggie Memorial Stadium’s lights were on before we got there.  Ron suddenly remembered that tonight was the Tournament of Champions for area (and then some) high school bands.  At the game, we could hear the stadium PA, but never heard the bands playing.  We had to take a couple of detours to get to the next door soccer field as some of the roads were blocked.

 

I went to the ticket trailer quickly.  I didn’t recognize the guy in there, but he recognized me somehow.  “Yeah, I’ve seen you here before.  You’re a good fan,” he handed me a ticket without taking payment.  I was wearing the jazzy Aggie Soccer scarf, they’d given away last week, so obviously I had been there.  I tried to insist on paying, but he said, “Nah, this one’s on the house.”  Between the free ticket, the scarf, and the autographs at another game, I must say Soccer has been very hospitable. 

 

We came in just as the players were being introduced.  It was Senior Day (or Night).  Their numbers were sprayed in on the near sideline.  There were a bunch of them, perhaps 11, which would be about a third of the team.  The Trailblazers looked generally tall and fairly attractive.  They were in red.  One of the girls, Lauren Buxton, was wearing highly fashion-clashing green shoes. 

 

The Aggies starters seemed to generally be the seniors, even if they weren’t usually starters.  Corey Kizer was back in the lineup after her injury against the Lancers.  Mia Montano was in goal, instead of Makenna Gottschalk, who is also a senior.  Nothing against Mia, but Makenna is the star goalie.  The team lost on Thursday to Utah Valley.  I wonder if either this game no longer mattered to the postseason tournament seeding, which the Aggies have qualified for, or if Makenna is injured or Coach Baarts thought she needed a rest before the tournament.  Looking at the Trailblazers’ 2-6-1 conference record, I could see the coach maybe taking some chances.

 

There wasn’t a huge crowd, more of a middling one.  It was a beautiful night, not cold or breezy, just right.  I’m going to pronounce the new stadium lights a success anyway.  They’ve probably gotten quite a few more fans to show up for games this season.  Some of the fans were also wearing their new Aggie scarves.  I’m sure they’ll be around for a while.  Little kids were back acting as ball kids around the field, as it should be.  We didn’t have our pick of seats coming in late.  We ended up sitting with the Dixie State fans.  They were loud parents for the entire game.  However, I wouldn’t say they were obnoxious or anything, just passionate.  Unfortunately, I passed up my opportunity to ask someone from Dixie State how their Utah school got their name.  (I’m going with DS for the rest of this post rather than the full name.)

 

First Half

World Series scoring update: Astros up 1-0.  I didn’t note the inning.  I spent the first several minutes of the game getting settled and didn’t immediately start taking game notes.  39’ left in the half, off an Aggie free kick, Tia Gladem took a crossing shot that went wide.  32’ DS had a corner.  “Ruby Red!  Go Red!  Go Dixie!”  One particular Trailblazers fan kept up a steady stream of encouragement.  We were sitting between him and Aggie superfan, Tom.  We were surrounded by cheer. 

 

30’ Emma Smith took a long kick into the DS box.  Corey suddenly appeared out of nowhere and intercepted the ball from the goalie and chipped it in.  1-0 Aggies, just like that.  Tom had the momentary upper hand in cheering.  He kept shouting for Makenna whenever the ball got to the goalie.  A fan next to him finally corrected him.  I should have done that, though Tom had binoculars with him.  He didn’t have much excuse for getting that wrong. 

 

26’ after a DS foul, the Aggies took a free kick near midfield.  Mia came out to take the kick.  Tom was able to get her name right.  Tia would take a shot that bounced off two defending DS players in the box that nearly went in.  24’ the Aggies took a corner, but the attack was broken up.  23’ there was a DS corner off a broken up attack.  The attack was ended on a missed header.  21’ mass Aggie subs came in, including many of the regular starters, such as Hannah Leitner and Loma McNeese.

 

18’ DS briefly had a three-on-goalie attack advantage, but it was thankfully called offsides.  17’ more subs came in, including Bella Garcia.  I immediately felt bad for her.  Though her cast was off and her wrist was now just bandaged, she kept cradling her arm and she seemed to be in some discomfort.  What a gamer!  Ron was keeping up with the World Series.  It was now 2-0 Astros.  Like the previous soccer game, a little kid attempted to charge the field.  He was wrestled to the ground by security (his mom).  How does this keep happening?  Why does this keep happening?  What’s wrong with society in general?

 

14’ more subs came in.  DS made another attack.  Instead of three versus one, this time they tried one versus three defenders.  That didn’t work either.  “Call it both ways!”  The DS superfan disagreed with a call by the ref.  One of their female fans, who I don’t think was his wife, told him to cool it.  “Well, I just wanted them to call it both ways,” he explained sheepishly.  11’ a DS free kick near the Aggie box was broken up.  Hannah was briefly leveled.  It looked bad, but she popped right back up.  10’ there was the inventible retaliation as a DS player was downed.

 

9’ Mia was out of the box trying to retrieve a ball and was run into by a DS player.  It was a risky play for her.  8’ some more Aggie subs came in.  The ref took the stoppage opportunity to the give players on the field a quick lecture.  6’ off an Aggie corner, the DS goalie, Adelle Brown, stopped it initially, but it bounced off her before she re-gathered it.  1’ a DS player made a solo attack.  There was only one defender between her and Mia, who caught the shot. 

 

Halftime

The Aggies mostly dominated possession in first half and were up 3 to 1 in shots on goal.  There’s your deep analysis.  I broke for the bathroom, while a small goal was setup on field for another delivery robot competition to score a goal.  The bots didn’t move for several seconds after the start of the activity.  The PA still tried to call it, “Look at those moves!”  I didn’t stick around to watch the outcome. 

 

I picked up some popcorn on the way back.  Since I’d gotten a free ticket, I thought I should buy something.  I saw an adorable little white, fluffy dog in the stands.  Ah, cute.  After I got settled, the bots came into the stands to sign autographs.  They also dispensed some candy to the kids for Halloween (tomorrow).  A couple of DS fans also took advantage.

 

Second Half

44’ the Aggies got a throw-in that resulted in a shot that was headed out.  43’ under pressure, DS goalie Adelle had to fall on a loose ball after a lazy back pass.  43’ on the other end, Mya Hammack blocked a shot off a DS corner.  41’ Hannah Draper led an Aggie attack and ran over a defender.  The ref stopped the action and carded her.  Tom and the DS superfan competed on the cheering during the affair.             

 

38’ a DS defender kicked out the ball as Bella chased after her.  The Aggies got a throw-in that ended with a kick that went high and plunked the scoreboard.  That seems to happen every game.  36’ the Aggies got a corner.  The attack ended with a header that just went wide.  32’ there was some good Aggie dribbling and passing with Loma and Bella in the DS box.  Xitlaly Hernandez took a long shot that went high. 

 

The Aggies had been monopolizing the ball for the last few minutes.  30’ DS brought in some subs.  28’ Bianca Chacon took a shot in front of the goal on an airborne ball.  It was caught.  24’ Mya took a soft shot that was caught.  22’ Hannah Leitner made a good steal that led to an Aggie corner.  (I’m having to distinguish between the two Hannahs.  I don’t think they played at the same time in this game.)  A header shot near the net was caught.  The DS fans were getting loud and irritated with the refs.  21’ there was a DS free kick near the Aggie box after a couple of players were knocked down.  This led to a DS throw-in.  Shea O’Connor tangled with a DS player and got carded.  “Fire in the hole!” shouted the DS superfan, as the resulting free kick was knocked away.

 

18’ Hannah got another steal.  The crowd loved it.  17’ she ran into the DS box, double teamed, across the front of the goal.  It briefly looked like she’d reached out and touched the ball, but instead she’d headed the ball in on the run.  2-0 Aggies.  Right after, Brooke Shultz went down in slow motion after contact after the midfield kick.  Mya came over to her and helped her stretch out her leg.  Brooke was subbed out on the next stoppage.

I’d noticed DS player, Kalea Woodyat, in first half since she was working on the near side.  She was a bit more petite than most of her teammates and looked cute with her hair up in braids.  14’ she’d just come back in and took a shot from outside the Aggie box that beat Mia into the top shelf.  It probably would have gotten past anybody.  I didn’t hear a PA announcement about the goal. 

13’ Hannah went down hard on a solo attack.  11’ Kalea took another shot.  Mia fell on it for the stop.  Update from Atlanta, the Braves scored to make it 2-1 Astros in the sixth.  7’ Aggie subs came in, but again there were no announcements.  Was the PA on break?  5’ DS tried a one-versus-four attack.  The shot went wide.  That was basically the last play of note for the game.  Aggies win 2-1.  The final on shots on goal were 6 to 3 Aggies.  I’ll give gameballs to Hannah Leitner for scoring and her hustle, and to Bella Garcia for toughing it out on the pitch.

 

The Aggie girls were happy.  Some the girls did a can-can as they came out to applaud the crowd.  Tom called out to Hannah Leitner and she waved to him.  There wasn’t any organized Senior Day ceremony.  The parents and friends of the girls took pictures by their numbers on the sideline.  I didn’t see any tears, just smiles.  The cute little dog got loose and ran around the field.  Brooke kicked a ball around with a little boy.  I don’t know if he was her little brother or not.  Coach Baarts handed out framed jerseys to the players.  He’s going need a bunch of new players next season. 

 

The Dixie State parents hung around waiting for their girls, as did Ron and I.  Why were we hanging around when there was a World Series game on?  Ron wasn’t in a hurry.  He checked the score and now the Braves were up 3-2 in the seventh.  That was when we left.  We watched the last two half-innings at my apartment.  I switched from my Aggie hat to my old Braves hat.  The plastic strap in the back almost came apart on me, but it held together when I put it on.  And that score held as the Braves won.  Ron and I were both happy about the outcomes of the games tonight. 

 

So ends live in-person soccer for me this season.  I’ve enjoyed it and not enjoyed it at times.  The Aggies have made good steps forward this year, but they still have a losing record, 9-10 (5-5 in conference).  They might do well at the tournament, or maybe not.  It’s hard to say.  I keep threatening to not come back every year, yet somehow; the team keeps winning me back over.  More winning and great giveaways won’t hurt my continued allegiance.