NM State Aggies vs ASU Sundevils Soccer 8-24-23

Lauren Machuca

I wasn’t sure what I was more worried about going to tonight’s Thursday night Aggie Soccer match against the Arizona State Sundevils, the weather or what I would come back to at work the next day for taking the day off.  I couldn’t do anything about work, except for quitting, and even less about the weather.  The weather forecast was never good for today, but it was never cloudy during the day.  I looked at the radar before leaving and the storms looked pretty far away.  As for the game itself, I was hoping for the best.

 

The team had played two road games since their opening exhibition.  They had won 2-1 over Portland State.  Loma McNeese had kicked the game-winner late in the match.  They’d lost in Lubbock to Texas Tech 0-5.  In an interview afterward, Coach Baarts used it as a learning experience and put in his freshman when the game got out-of-hand.       

 

Lunch was good.  After furiously trying to decide where to go, I settled on taking a hike to Freddy’s to try their new Pretzel Bun Bacon BBQ Sauce Burger.  It didn’t look terribly impressive and the first couple of bites were the same.  However, by the time I got to the end, I’m like, “Can I have another?”  Pretty tasty.  That was functionally all I did during the day.

Mya Hammack looking sweet.

I left early for the game on a hunch, since this was the biggest visitor get ever for the program.  There was one pavilion with a tailgate in the parking lot.  The next door parking lot was already set for Aggie Football’s opening game on Saturday.  The Baseball batting cages were in use.  At the gate, a couple of Aggie Softball players in team shirts, got harassed trying to get in.  No respect, I tell ya, no respect.   

 

The courtesy table had two new Aggie Soccer posters that I’ll post another time, since I liked all three of this game’s promo images.  I ran into Heidi Moccia there and handed her a program, though I didn’t recognize her at the time.  Tonight’s game would be on ESPN+ and her and Adam Young would be calling the game.  If only it had been on the radio so I could listen at the game and not been so confused later.

It says "Women's Soccer."

After I sat down, a cameraman at the top of the stands called me out for bringing my cowbell.  He’d been at the Mississippi State NCAA tournament game and had heard enough of them.  Across the field, the rock logo was finished.  A new WAC Championship banner was hung on up the fence (which I forgot to get a picture of).  On field, the grass looked fairly good after yesterday’s heavy rain. 

 

The Coach came over to stands to set up a camera on the sidelines.  He amicably chatted with the refs there, who were warming up.  I watched the pretty silver-haired player, who I still haven’t identified, warm up with the reserves

      

The stands were fairly empty when I got there, but the solitude wouldn’t last long.  I expected a bunch of ASU fans, but they didn’t materialize.  Aggie fans did show up.  The attendance was nearly at capacity at over 900.  The hill behind the north goal looked like a couple of Aggie Men’s teams were watching.  The crowd was jazzed to be there with a buzz going around.  I saw two guys wearing dress shirts and ties that must have come directly from work.  There was also a little girl wearing a sparkling pink princess dress to the game. 

 

Introducing the starters, ASU’s Allison Carabin towered over her teammates at 6’.  I was surprised that Karolanne Lafortune was the starting goalie for the Aggies.  Was Valerie Guha injured or has she lost the coach’s confidence?  I wasn’t as surprised as freshman starter, Emma O’Neill.  She ran out and greeted the wrong end of the line of players.  

Xitlaly Hernandez kicking it.

 First Half

Taking up the southern secondary stand were members of the Aggie Pride of New Mexico Band.  (The full band would have taken up all of the stands.)  They provided musical accompaniment for the game and their contribution was appreciated.  I think they were happy to be playing at a game for the first time this school year.           

 

People were still coming in as the match started.  I think I missed Karol making her first save in the first minute.  The Aggies pressed on offense in the first half.  Mya Gonzales and Loma took early shots that were off.  The defense on both sides was tenacious.  Xitlaly Hernandez got stripped of the ball.  Bianca Chacon stole a throw-in. 

 

34’ left in the half, off an Aggie corner kick, Megan Ormson pushed a header to the net that was caught by ASU goalie, Pauline Nelles.  Freshman Mia Daniel from the Volleyball team walked by wearing a foam finger.  I wished I’d recognized her quicker.  I’d have said, “Hello,” and asked about her teammate, Ryleigh Whitekettle.  (On the Aggie Coaches Show, Assistant Coach Whitis talked about Ryleigh playing in the present tense, so maybe she’s okay.) 

 

31’ Karol caught a free kick from the wing.  27’ Carabin made a nice pass to Gabi Rennie, who was wide open in front of the Aggie net.  She was forced out.  24’ Meredith Scott was in the ASU box.  She dribbled around before shooting.  It was stopped.  23’ Megan had a steal and shot, but it went wide.  22’ Lieske Carleer took a hard shot from way outside the Aggie box.  Karol made the catch. 

 

19’ Dangerous moment.  The ball was kicked around in front of the Aggie net.  The crowd gasped, but it was kicked out.  A resulting ASU corner shot hit on top of the net.  Subs came in for both teams.  15’ the Aggies had a corner.  The ball danced around in front of the ASU net.  Xitlaly got knocked down on her back in the scrum.  The ball was kicked out downfield. 

 

And here comes one of my two missed plays.  (This is kind of embarrassing for me.)  I had to read about this on the official game recap.  14’ there was an ASU foul at the corner of their box.  Before the free kick, Aggie Sydnee Johnson said something to the ref or an ASU player and was promptly ejected.  Given the lack of an argument with the ref, I suspect Sydnee said something really out-of-bounds to a player.  

 

I heard people in the stands commenting on this, but nobody heard it from where we were.  It didn’t make sense, since the Aggies got the foul call and the free kick outside of the ASU box (which was caught).  What I missed on this whole exchange was that the Aggies were playing the rest of the game A PLAYER DOWN!  It was 10 versus 11 out on the field.  Sydnee is also the fastest girl on the team and plays on offense.  All of this should have been crippling for the rest of the game. 

 

The Aggies did not give up and kept up on offense.  12’ the Aggies had another corner.  Tati Jerman whiffed on a kick at the top of the box.  Ariana Leamons picked up her teammate and made a hook kick on the loose ball, but shot wide.  On another corner, Loma got the ball and took a shot that went across the front of the net. 

 

8’ my girl (she’s my favorite), Mya Hammack got beat on defense on the Aggie end.  The ball got kicked away and Mya ended up back with it.  Basically unopposed, she dribbled the ball downfield and kept going all the way to the ASU net and took a shot.  It was a bit reckless, but I think it fired up the team. 

 

And here comes my second missed play.  6’ Bianca Chacon scored to make it 1-0 Aggies.  I saw the whole play, but so much happened, I had no opportunity to write it down.  (I even had the scoring player wrong.)  There was no video highlight on Twitter.  (I guess ESPN+ isn’t allowing its footage to be used.)  From the official scoring, Mya G. and Bianca each took shots beforehand.  It looked like it was going to be a blown opportunity, until Bianca got another clear shot.  After the score, Xitlaly ran out to hype up the crowd.

 

5’ ASU came right back.  Birta Gudlaugsdottir (I feel like I just hit random keys on the keyboard) was wide open in front of the Aggie net.  She was wide open because she was offsides (the only offside call of the game).  With 30 seconds left, ASU had a corner kick that Karol caught.  1-0 Aggies at the half.

 

Halftime

The Band and their two Folklorico dancers came out and performed for the crowd.  Before starting, the Band director turned around and thanked the crowd for coming out.  That was a nice touch. 

 

The scoreboard showed that the Aggies were up 4 to 1 in Shots on Goal and 4 to 2 in corners.  Coach Baarts was demonstrably talking to the team on the sidelines and showing what he wanted to see.  There was a hat toss into the stands before the game started and a t-shirt toss before the Second Half.  A lady in front of me caught one of each.  (She did give away the hat to a girl.)

 

Second Half

The strategy for the half soon became apparent.  The Sundevils would be pressing on offense.  Coach Baarts had his players stay on defense to conserve their short-handed legs.  (Well that was an all-time mixed metaphor.) 

 

44' right off the bat there was a shot across the Aggie goal that Karol made a dive catch on.  A minute later, ASU took two shots on goal on the same play.  40'  Tati kicked a ball to the sidelines on defense right into the stands with the Band.  Somebody took a hit.  Tati put her hand over her mouth and shirked.  Don't feel too bad, dear.  Two more shots went into the Band right after. 

 

38' an ASU shot went wide.  35' Karol had to fall on another ball.  An Aggie player went down with what appeared to be a cramp and had to be subbed out.  (I couldn't see her number.)  34' Carabin pushed down an Aggie player.  Things were now starting to get chippy.  33' the Aggie defense stopped a downfield rush and I'm seeing lightning in the distance to the east.  31' Karol caught a shot from the wing.

 

I hope you're getting the proper impression that the Aggies were putting up a valiant defense.  I was wondering why they were only putting one girl on offense and trying to nurse their slim lead, but I didn't know at the time that they were down a player.  30' Enasia Colon finally found the net for ASU with a running shot to make it 1-1.  That was basically 45 minutes of stalemating ASU's offense short-handed.

 

The game officially got rough after the goal.  Ariana threw a hard elbow and Megan threw an armbar on defense.  The lightning continued by the mountains.  I was worried about the the outcome of the game, but maybe more about enduring a dreaded lightning delay.  25' Karol got caught well away from the goal and fell down.  A defender came in from behind and kicked the ball out.  Another shot came right after and went over the net. 

 

The lightning seemed to be getting closer.  22' the Aggies and ASU put in subs.  19' Bianca took an elbow to the face, but still dribbled the ball away and passed it.  18' Mya H. made a nice breakup on defense.  17' ASU shot wide.  15' Shila Rasoul, basically the only Aggie on offense, nearly caught Nelles completely out of the goalie box.  13' an Aggie player took a forced tumble (couldn't see her number).  The Ref flashed a yellow card on ASU.  The Aggie free kick sailed high.

 

10' the Aggies brought in more fresh legs, but Enasia found the net again off of a nice pass to the middle of the box by Savannah Maley.  1-2 ASU.  A ball flew into the grandstand right after the midfield kick.  The Aggies did make a push on offense.  8' they got a corner kick and put the ball into a scrum in front of the ASU net.  Nelles eventually came up with the ball.  The Baseball team behind the net (that might have been them) disagreed with the call. 

 

7' Xitlaly was blatantly held, though the Sundevil player actually went down from a shot to the face.  ASU received another yellow.  The Aggie free kick from deep was on target, but caught.  That was probably all for the Aggies' legs for the game.

 

3' Enasia again with the score, as she rolled one past Karol to make it 1-3 ASU.  The crowd deserted at this point.  I was no longer concerned about the weather.  The clouds were staying away.  2' Enasia found Ella Opkyitne wide open in front of the Aggie net for a goal, 1-4 ASU.  With about a minute left, a Sundevil player went down and was ignored for about a minute before the game was stopped to tend to her.  1-4 ASU was the final.

 

Enasia Colon is the easy player of the game with 2 goals and an assist.  For the Aggies, I'd call it a real team effort for them.  Bianca Chacon's goal was an obvious highlight.  It was 6 to 4 in shots on goal for ASU.  The Aggies were up 5 to 3 in corners. 

 

When I got to work on Friday, a co-worker said the game was the lead local news story on the radio.  He asked about the penalty, which the story blamed for the loss.  I couldn't give him a definitive explanation.  He said they interviewed the coach and he was very pleased with their effort.  I agree.  This felt like it could have been a great win or a tie at worst, until the ejection.  Whatever happened, I'm sure Sydnee feels awful.  (An interview with the Coach Baarts before Saturday’s Aggie Football game offered no additional insight on the incident.)

 

The Aggies came out and waved to the crowd.  The Sundevils did as well?  One of the girls shouted, “Thank you, so much!”  Was this sarcasm or were they waving to their two fans in the crowd?  It was weird.  When I left the grandstand, I saw there was also frequent lightning to the west.  We got lucky.  Aggie Baseball players were still hacking away in the batting facility.  In spite of the work I came back to the next day and the loss, I was really glad I went.  It was great to see the stands full and the Aggies playing well against a good team.