NM State Aggies vs Cal State-Fullerton Titans Soccer 8-27-23

Mya Gonzales gives us a smile.

“We need a win,” as fan Michael would say during Aggie Baseball losing streaks.  Indeed.  After Thursday’s Soccer loss, Aggie Football lost their home opener against UMass, 41-30.  Turnovers did the Aggies in.  It was a low-scoring game until the fourth quarter, where the teams combined for 48 points!  It seemed like the crowd was there until the end, though the outcome wasn’t in doubt.  They were waiting for the fireworks afterward.  UTEP also lost their first game.  Nobody in the Borderland is happy. 

 

The game was on ESPN.  I was told that their commentators called the game, “a pillow fight.”  (I was listening to the local radio coverage.)  I hope you guys still have jobs after your network gets sold.  It’s not like they couldn’t replace you all with AI voiceovers that would do a better job.

 

Aggie Volleyball lost their first game at a California tournament, but came back and won the next two.  Even better, Ryleigh Whitekettle is not only not injured, she’s awesome.  She led the team in kills.  Alex Connatser had a bunch of blocks.  The team also seemed to settle on Peyton Castillo as their main setter, only to lose her to injury in their last game.  Hopefully, it’s a minor injury.

 

Back to Soccer, I found out that Valerie Guha was a late scratch on Thursday at goalie.  She was also out today.  I got no further information about Sydnee Johnson’s ejection.  I ran into Rito on the broadcast crew.  (He’d had a late night working Saturday and was back working today.)  He didn’t know, but said, “Soccer loves drama.  It’s a like a novella.”  Sydnee was still on the roster.  I thought I saw her on the sidelines, but she did not come in to play today.

The new championship banner is the black square in the center.  

I came in about 45 minutes early.  What a mistake.  It was in the high 90’s and a bit humid.  I was also wearing long sleeves and a floppy hat to protect against the sun and was sweltering just sitting.  I was able to use my new prescription sunglasses at least.  The picture above shows the Aggies’ new WAC Championship banner if you enlarge it enough.  There are also new C-USA Conference flags flying over the stadium.  I did not take a picture of the massive excavation going on behind the south goal.  I don’t know what that was for.

 

The Cal State-Fullerton Titans were on field warming up.  They looked fairly tall and well-drilled.  The program showed them beating BYU and UNM so far this season.  The ref’s were warming up in front of me.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same group as Thursday, so I couldn’t ask any questions.  I talked to one of them and told him to have a good game.  Fan Danny came in and sat down next to me.  We exchanged a few sports quips. 

 

I think I waved to Adam Young broadcasting the game from the high perch of the nearby Softball stadium.  I couldn’t entirely see him.  He waved back.  I need to run into Adam and congratulate him on his new producer, who was born this summer to his wife.  I hear that the new kid yells a lot, but is lovable anyway. 

 

The crowd seemed a bit light, but was near 600, even without a lot of Aggie athletes being there.  There were smarter people who had pavilions set up on the sidelines and the hill.  There a couple of teams of the little girls that came in for the game.  Some of them happily worked as ball girls.  There might have been a few football players there in a tent.  Most of the fans in the grandstand were sitting on the top row with umbrellas out.        

 

First Half

Cal wasted no time.  In the first minute, they took advantage of a missed pass and ran it into the Aggie box.  This lead to a corner kick, but was shot out.  Bianca Chacon made a solo charge downfield that was broken up.  We could hear Coach Baarts yelling clearly across the field.  (There was no Band here today.)  Right at the beginning there were a couple of takedowns.  It was going to be a rough match.  The ref would whistle plays, but didn’t hand out any cards. 

 

The first real threat was at 37’ left in the half.  Bianca led a counter charge and took a shot that was stopped by Mia Ranson.  (Unlike the rest of her team, Ranson had short hair.  Most female athletes have long hair.  Aside from looks, I think it helps with sweat.)  A minute later, Bianca was in a boxing match without her hands with two Cal defenders.  The Titans made a kick downfield.  Aggie goalie, Karolanne Lafortune, was caught way out of the box on it, but no damage.

 

33’ Ariana Leamons took a shot on the wing that went high.  The Aggies got a corner right after.  Xitlaly Hernandez made a left-footed kick that was caught.  31’ Gia Valenti made a great steal, but tripped and lost the ball.  30’ X fought her way through the defenders and took another shot, but it went wide.  (She’s tough.)  The Aggies got a free kick and took a shot off it that went wide.   

 

It was really hot.  There was a breeze, but it had no effect.  I swear I was smelling burning flesh.  It might have been my feet.  The heat was going right through the soles of my hightops.  26’ my favorite, Mia Hammack, was tripped and fell defending.  23’ a serious Cal attack began.  Karol ended up on the ground grabbing around the players’ feet for the ball.  It was eventually kicked away. 

 

22’ hydration break for the players.  I was grateful for the courtesy water jug outside the stands.  Subs followed for both teams.  17’ Makenna McGill took a shot on the wing for the Titans.  Karol made a dive catch on it.  Cal immediately got a corner.  They took a shot from the other side of the field.  Karol made a leaping grab on it.  15’ Bianca took a shot that deflected off of X’s shoulder and headed to the net.  Ranson caught it anyway.

 

14’ a Cal corner kick was kicked out, which led to another corner.  On the counter, Loma McNeese went downfield solo.  She was taken down and went face-first into the turf.  No!  Not the face!  (Loma’s complexion is flawless.)  The ref must have seen blood and immediately called for the trainer.  Loma stepped on to the sidelines, had her face cleaned off, and stayed in to play.

 

10’ the Aggies had a corner.  Jena Johannes took a header shot at the goal that went just high.  8’ Loma took a shot outside the box.  Ranson made a diving catch on it.  6’ Titan Sail Bozinovic (what an interesting name) was double-teamed on an attack, but still got a shot off.  Karol kicked the ball away.  2’ a Cal player lied down flat on her back on the field.  It was probably a cramp.  1’ Meredith Scott took a shot.  It was stopped.  With under a minute, Karol ran way out of the box to successfully stop an attack.  We are at a stalemate: nil-nil.

 

Halftime

Both teams retreated to the locker room.  No bravado today in braving the heat for any extra time.  The teams comingled going up the ramp.  I refilled my water cup.  I noticed they were selling little souvenir soccer balls at the team shop tent.  I’ll keep that in mind if there’s an autograph day.  A gorgeous blonde intern led a couple of little girls, who were ball girls, out to midfield for a contest.  (I guess there was guy intern helping too.)  The girls twirled around and ran to the goals to kick balls.  They were happy with their prizes afterward.  I think me and Danny were watching the blonde intern on the far sideline for the rest of the game.       

 

Second Half

The Aggies picked right up on the attack.  (And Mya H. was now working on my side of the field, thus making me happier.)  A minute in, Ari made a free kick from way out that was caught.  42’ a Cal player was upended.  There was a free kick outside of the Aggie box.  Karol was screened, but still made the save from a kick from the top of the box.  39’ Ari made another strong kick from outside the Titans’ box and it was caught again. 

 

38’ Meredith was taken down in the Cal box.  No call.  36’ undaunted, she then faced Ranson one-on-one.  Meredith’s shot went just wide.  35’ Meredith again (she was everywhere).  She took a downfield kick and made a pass to Gia at the top of the Titan box.  Unfortunately, the turf monster got her and spoiled the shot. 

 

32’ Xitlaly took a shot from well outside the Titan box.  She chipped it just right.  The shot sailed over Ranson’s head and into the net.  The goalie had no chance on it.  Perfect.  1-0 Aggies!

 

The Titans immediately picked up the intensity.  27’ Karol caught a shot.  After putting the ball back in play, she was screaming at her teammates to pick up their intensity.  26’ Loma and a Cal player collided.  The Titan got the worst of it.  (I’m not sure if it was the same player that knocked her down earlier.)  With the stoppage, the girls grabbed some water. 

 

25’ the Aggies made some great passes on this possession.  X finished with a shot that was just off.  23’ Cal had a corner.  A long shot from center was caught.  22’ Ari beat a defender on a charge to the cheers of the crowd.  Her shot went wide.  21’ Shila Rasoul had an open shot.  Ranson just got a hand on it to deflect it.  That was a highlight save for the match.  Tati Jerman took a follow up hook shot that was just out.

 

18’ the Aggies got off a good rush, but it was blown offsides.  16’ the official hydration break.  Karol and Mya H. chatted about strategy (presumably) as they came back on field.  (Most on field chatter involves one word screamed.)  Danny made the comment that the girls were all moving slower as the game wore on.

 

14’ possibly the most critical play of the game.  There was a broken field with players scattered everywhere.  Karol called for the ball to be back-passed to her.  Mya thought the better of it as a couple of Titans came at her.  She dribbled back, but couldn’t get the ball away.  The Coach was screaming from the sidelines.  The ball came out to the top of the box.  Titan Karla Rodriguez made something of a bicycle kick while lying on the ground.  Karol barely caught it.  (Coach Baarts will be haunting his players with video of this play.)

 

11’ there was a Cal free kick at the top of the Aggie box.  The pass went to the side to Vanessa Buso (I think).  She went down by herself like she’d been shot.  The girl twisted her ankle severely.  She had to be half-carried off.  Karol actually ran over to help, but was waved off. 

 

There was some complaint, but the Aggies were given possession afterward.  Gia would take a shot that went wide.  10’ a shot inside the Aggie box just went over Karol, but also over the bar and landed on top of the net.  The crowd was really getting into it now.  8’ a repeat of the last play.  The Aggies were getting a bit lucky. 

 

5’ Mya Gonzales was taken out on a rush and came up limping.  No call.  The side judge called attention to her and she was subbed out.  On the other end, Titan Laurie            Ann Moise took a shot inside the Aggie box that went high.  She pounded the ground in frustration afterward.  3’ the Aggies were still attacking.  A great pass went across the Cal goal to an open shot, but it was kicked away.  1’ a Cal kick bounced over Mya H. to the Aggie net.  Karol smothered it.  Cal’s last shot at the goal hit the scoreboard over the Aggie goal.  The crowd counted down the last 10 seconds.  Time’s up!  Aggies win 1-0!

 

I’m not going to lie.  A loss or tie here would have been personally devastating.  I wanted all my sweating in the heat to have a payoff!  Xitlaly Hernandez and Karolanne Lafortune get nods for Player of the Game, but it was another great team effort.  Cal State played very well, perhaps even better.  It was a game that hinged on a couple of feet difference for them.  Shots on Goal were 5 to 6 and corners were 8 to 4 in favor of Cal.

 

The girls came out and waved to the crowd.  They were happy, but were clearly exhausted.  X’s post-match interview was really subdued.  I left happy.  Out in the parking lot, I could hear the batting cages in use.  I probably didn’t need more fast food for the week, but I went to Burger King for dinner.  (Hey, I had a $7 coupon for a burger, fries, and a drink.)  I think it took one minute for them to hand me my meal.  That’s service.  I called Ron after eating to update him.  “The bad news is that you missed a great Aggie Soccer win.  The good news is that you didn’t have to fry to watch it.”    

Here's your happy winning pic.