Another Friday off from work to go watch Aggie Sports. I could get too used to these short work weeks, right up until I get back to work and get hammered with the backlog. I convinced Ron to pick our dinner destination before the game. We went to El Jacalito, but not for Mexican food, burgers. We’d been there before and this time I got to try their intriguing Mac & Cheese Burger. It was impressive-looking, though it wasn’t the life-changing experience I had hoped for. I think I’ll just stick with cheese.
Ron had a Green Chile Burger. He enjoyed it, but that and the Green Chile
salsa dip burned him inside out to the point of tears. In a breach of protocol, I suggested going
for ice cream before the game to help put out the fire. This resulted in a trip to Sonic for Blasts. Ron said he didn’t
need it, but after the game, he admitted felt fine and not indigested anymore.
Tonight, the Aggies would be facing one of the better
teams in the WAC, Utah Valley, in their first conference
game. They have one loss on the season
at #18 Alabama. The next week, the Wolverines went out and decisively
beat #13 BYU, 4-2. Historically, I’d heard on the Aggie Coaches Show and chatter in the
crowd that the Aggies have never beaten UVU (but they have tied them). It was a bit intimidating.
It was Mexican Independence Day today. At the tailgate in the Soccer Complex, the
tent had a couple of Mexican flags on display.
Also tonight was the annual Cruces/Mayfield
High School Football game. It was the big rivalry game in town. They used to play it at Aggie Memorial Stadium, but now they’re not in the same
classification and it’s not a competitive game.
(This is why the people of Las Cruces want/need Aggie Football to have a resurgence.)
It was another beautiful night. We’ve gotten a lot of rain here this summer,
so it’s been amazing getting this much good weather for games this season. A good crowd came out (over 400), even with
the party and football competition.
(Against tomorrow night’s Canelo
fight, maybe it wouldn’t have done as well.)
There were parents and relatives of a couple of players. They were wearing t-shirts with their last
name on the back. Super-Fan Tom was
there. He was dressed up a bit tonight
in a business shirt and khakis. I saw Duke Keith come in just before the game
to call it. We shared a smile, but I
didn’t recognize him soon enough to say his name and wave.
The PA nearly said right before the match, “Who’s ready
for some Aggie Vol . . . Soccer! She
momentarily forgot where she was. On
that note, Aggie Volleyball was
out-of-town in Los Angeles for a tournament.
They’d lost to host USC in
three sets yesterday. Katie Birtcil did still get 12
kills. Today, they got wiped by San Jose State and there was nothing
good to take away from that match.
First
Half
At the start, the drum began beating on one of the side
bleachers. There was an occasional long
horn blare. Some attractive athletic
women came in from the Swim & Dive
team. I think that was the only
other Aggie team representation. About
four minutes in, the field lights came on.
That probably should have been done before the match, but it was still
light out.
UVU started off with a couple of shots. 38’ left in the half, Mya Hammack had the first Aggie chance with a solo breakaway that
was blocked. This led directly to a
couple of other attempts. Bianca Chacon had another chance after
that fusillade, but an immediate counter forced goalie Makenna Gottschalk to come out from the net and make a stop. Coach
Baarts nearly ran on to the field to help on defense as he watched the play
develop. He had to settle for screaming.
UVU took another shot that went over the goal. 33’ in the Wolverine box, Bianca made a kick
that threaded the traffic in front of her to force a save by their goalie, Idalia Serrano. 32’ Makenna caught a long shot. 27’ Idalia fell on a shot, but the ball got
loose in the box right after.
Unfortunately, there were no Aggies nearby to capitalize on it. 25’ a foul on Xitlaly Hernandez gave the Wolverines a free kick outside the Aggie
box. The kick went into the net in front
of the scoreboard.
24’ there was another loose ball in the UVU box on a back
pass. Those things are so
dangerous. Again, there wasn’t any Aggie
pressure to make an attack on the fumble.
22’ Hannah Draper was in
front of the Wolverine goal with a single defender. Her shot was blocked out. 16’ Hannah
Lee with UVU had a clear shot from outside of the box, but it was
caught. This was followed up with
another shot that went wide.
14’ there was an Aggie defensive breakdown as the
Wolverines took a shot in the box.
Makenna had to make a dive stop.
Right after, she had to deflect the shot with an outstretched hand. The crowd was getting vocal with the players
and angry at the refs. 11’ after another
shot that went over the goal, the Aggies sent in a bunch of subs. 9’ some good passing exposed an open shot for
the Wolverines. Heather Stainbrook cashed in for a 1-0 UVU lead. Ron called it
a couple of minutes before saying they were getting too many chances.
6’ an errant shot took out an unsuspecting fan on the hill
behind the Aggie goal. You gotta watch
when you’re at these games. 3’ Mya Gonzales fired a shot through a
crowd in a UVU box. Idalia had to fall
on the ball. In the waning moments, UVU
took a wide shot. Right after, a Wolverine
player was tripped in the box, or fell dramatically after being touched. The ref decided it was the later and there
was no call.
Halftime
Aggie ace defender Landy
Williams took a few moments to replace a divot on field before
leaving. Thanks for the thoughtful grounds
keeping. Both teams left the field for
the clubhouse. The Wolverines had dominated
possession, but surprisingly both teams had the same shots on goal, three.
For Mexican Independence Day, the NM State Mariachi Band performed.
There were six members on various instruments, but they weren’t in
traditional costume. The lead singer was
reading lyrics off his phone, but did a fine job, as did the rest of the group
for a couple of songs. I took a quick
trip to the bathroom after the performance and caught the last of a brilliant
sunset in the west.
Second
Half
The Aggies were late coming back to the sidelines. They then huddled for a long time before
taking the field. I mentioned the
relatives earlier. The tenor of the game
changed in the Second Half in the crowd as they became more vocal in offering lots
of advice to the players and helpful criticism to the officials. I hadn’t heard this kind of fan participation
at soccer for a while and had NOT
missed it. I’ll only praise a large
black guy down in front of us, who was at least very entertaining. Early in this half, he got up and really gave
it to a line judge over a mugging on field.
(Ron was surprised that there were no Utah Valley fans at
the game. They show up for other sports,
such as the parents of Softball team
goddess, Basia Query. I had so hoped they’d end up as my in-laws.)
38’ left in the half, UVU was still on the attack to start
the period with a shot that went over the Aggie goal. 37’ Sydnee
Johnson made an attack that was kicked out.
Xitlaly followed that up with a shot from way outside the box that was
caught. 35’ the crowd went nuts over a missed
tripping call in the UVU box. They weren’t
the only ones. Coach Baarts was
presented with a Yellow Card on the sideline (Unsporting Conduct).
34’ Makenna made a slide stop on a shot. 29’ UVU brought in a bunch of subs. 27’ Makenna caught a long shot on a free
kick. A Yellow Card was issued to a
Wolverine player for tripping Sydnee.
Finally, the crowd approved of a call.
On a free kick, the Aggie shot went over the goal. On the play, Xitlaly collided with Idalia at
the net.
The Aggies brought in their group of subs right
after. They began to press on offense. Loma
McNeese and Mya Hammack took shots.
19’ UVU brought in more subs (and Bella
Garcia, one of my favorites and pictured at the top, came in for the
Aggies). A minute later, Bianca fired a
chip shot that curled into the upper left corner of the Wolverine goal. Idalia had no chance on it. The crowd exploded. You could hear the reserves chanting across
the field. Like the first half, the
changeover in personnel seemed to create an opening for the other team. We were tied at 1 apiece.
From here, the teams traded a couple of shots. The play on field seemed to get rougher. I noticed Xitlaly was getting outmuscled on
headers, her signature specialty. (I
actually mentioned her in a Twitch
chat with a streamer who plays soccer.)
With less than a minute left, a UVU player went down in the Aggie
box. They wanted a call, but didn’t get
it. The game ended with a 1-1 draw.
Err . . . Overtime? What about overtime? Some overtime? I’ve sat through double OT games. Was there a rules change? While I puzzled over my lack of closure, a fight started on the far sideline between the teams. Ron said a Utah Valley player was taunting and the Aggie player shoved. A ref displayed a Yellow Card, which the official scoring listed for Landy for “Dissent.” The Aggie team shook hands with the referees anyway. I’m not sure if they did so with the Wolverines or if the Wolverines shook hands with the refs.
The girls came out on field and jauntily waved to the
crowd, who were also quite upbeat. Bianca
got a couple of water bottles dumped on her.
The girls were happy. The crowd
was happy. Ron was happy. I guess I’m happy. I was wearing the lucky shirt. Since the Aggies weren’t beaten, we’ll say it
still holds the luck. There was no luck
on the Raising Canes challenge as
two goals weren’t scored, so no free chicken.
And me and Ron ended on the Aggie Sports front page the next day (blurry
and in the background, but there).
Bianca Chacon is our easy Player of the Game for the equalizer. Makenna Gottschalk also gets a nod for keeping the score so close. The Wolverines dominated much of the game until the last 20 minutes. Even then, the Aggies were still getting shots off. UVU led 16 to 11 in shots, but the Aggies were up 7 to 5 in SOG. There’s not much time to ruminate. The Aggies will face another stiff challenge in Seattle U on Sunday.
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