NM State Aggies vs Middle TN Blue Raiders Soccer 9-24-23

Brooke Schultz had a good game tonight.

 

I was literally flat on back in bed or in the bathroom sick for all of Saturday.  Somehow on Sunday, I was at Aggie Soccer.  I’d missed Aggie Volleyball and team autographs, but I wasn’t going to miss another game if I could help it.  I was actually feeling fine, but a little fragile.  I would be doing no cheering for this game, just shaking my cowbell. 

 

While I was laid out, I didn’t watch or listen to anything and didn’t have the computer on.  I was too sick to even bother listening to Aggie Football versus Hawaii starting at 10:00pm.  I was awake the whole night, but didn’t want to be.  Just as well, the Aggies lost 20-17.  They had the lead going into halftime, but did not score in the second half.      

 

It was a beautiful night and a great crowd of 620 for the game.  (The Cowboys were losing badly late in their afternoon game, so no reason not to show up.)  I picked up a $1 hot dog and a tea for dinner.  They were not selling chips, though.  The Band was here.  Fan Tom was here, so me not cheering would not be missed.  (Tom yelling at the top of his lungs is not my fault.)  Fan Danny was also here, so I sat next to him.

 

First Half

The Aggies got an early corner with 42’ left in the half.  Ariana Leamons took a chip shot that was just high.  This describes much of the game: the Aggies having corners and taking shots that just miss.  40’ Middle Tennessee had a free kick on the wing that went out.  Hey, I didn’t just see MT?  I wonder if they were on the same flight as the Volleyball team.  37’ Aggie goalie Valerie Guha fell on a long pass into the Aggie box.

 

35’ Bianca Chacon had a good look on a shot, but it was caught by MT goalie, Hannah Suder.  34’ an Aggie corner resulted in an Aggie throw-in from the other side of the field, but the shot was caught.  32’ Ari made a nice defensive stop by stripping the ball from the attacker.  31’ the Aggies got two corners on the same possession, but came away with no shots.  A fan ball got loose on the field during the play.  An alert Blue Raider player kicked that ball off field quickly.

 

28’ off an Aggie free kick, the ball flew across the net, but nobody could deflect it before it went out.  Tom was shouting, “We want a goal!”  The Aggies had dominated the game up to this point.  The crowd agreed.  27’ an Aggie free kick at the top of the MT box and a player was knocked down before play started.  I wouldn’t call this a chippie game, though.  It was about the usual.  Ari had a follow up kick that flew high into the scoreboard.

 

26’ the Aggies had another good attack.  A couple of Aggies were right in front of the net, but Suder fell on the ball.  A kid sitting behind me asked his dad if he could keep the ball if it came into the stands.  The dad said, “No,” and got really grouchy about it.  These kind of exchanges would continue.  24’ MT got a shot off.  Val caught it. 

 

18’ a family came in late.  They stood directly in front of me deciding where to sit as an Aggie attack was going on.  They moved away as Meredith Scott took a shot that was caught.  The Aggies made some subs.  17’ Meredith had a midfield strip on defense.  Shila Rasoul, who just came in, took a great shot from the outside wing.  Suder had to handle the ball twice before corralling it.  14’ Mya Hammack, playing up field from defense to offensive, took a booming shot that hit the sidebar.

 

12’ Tati Jerman took a shot in front of the net.  Suder made a great save and then caught a follow up corner.  (She was making a difference here.)  9’ Mya took another shot.  It went wide.  7’ it’s another Mya, Mya Gonzales, recently inserted, took a great running shot that flew over the goalie into the net.  Finally.  1-0 Aggies.  Loma McNeese got the assist on the play.

 

There was little time to celebrate.  6’ the Blue Raiders got a corner and Sascha Nielson headed it right in.  1-1.  Tip your hat.  It was a good play more than an Aggie breakdown, though that was MT’s first corner and first Shot on Goal.  Jena Johanes then picked up a yellow card for grabbing a jersey.  Given that the player was on a breakaway and about to run into the Aggie box that was probably a good foul.  The free kick was kicked out.

 

3’ Mya G. made a great pass to Mya H. by the MT net.  The header shot went just high.  2’ it looked like Shila was tripped in the MT box, but there was no call.  The Aggies got a corner, but no shot.  1’ another Aggie yellow card for a shirt grab by Tati.  With under a minute left, Shila took a running shot that was blocked. 

 

Halftime

Danny took off.  I’m not sure if he wasn’t feeling well or was tired.  The Band played for the entertainment and I was seated right up front to watch.  Over at the Football stadium, there was a guy riding a motorized skateboard down the walkway at the top of the berm.  A bit dangerous-looking, but fun.  Your stats to this point are the Aggies up 8-1 in corners and 5-1 in shots on goal, but not up in the score.

 

Second Half

44’ right off the center kick, Megan Ormson took a hard shot out.  Right after, Shila took a shot off the wing and into the net off a pass from Brooke Schultz.  Suder had no chance on it.  2-1 Aggies.  43’ Mya H. took a hard dive into the turf on defense.  She did get the ball back for the Aggies, but was rubbing a skinned elbow for the rest of the game.  39’ off a long free kick, Jessica Oliveras headed it into the Aggie goal.  It was another great shot.  2-2.

 

Okay, now the dad is getting on to the kid for cheering too much at the game.  I’m not sure dad knows why we’re all here.  37’ a shot by Shila sent Suder flying for a save that went just wide.  35’ MT made a good attack on goal, but the ball was kicked out.  34’ Mya H. did a good job breaking up an attack.  (She was playing on the near side of the field now, so I could see what she was doing.) 

 

29’ Jena made a good header on defense in front of the net.  26’ Meredith took a shot that went wide, but before that shot, the crowd was yelling about what looked like an MT handball in the box.  24’ Bianca, the Aggie assist queen, put it on a tee for Brooke to head in.  Yes!  3-2 Aggies!

 

22’ Loma took a hard hip check.  She bent over, but stood up and kept playing hurt.  A couple of minutes later, the ref stopped play to have her taken out.  She’s tough.   20’ a ball came bouncing into the MT box.  Shila took a high kick that went over the net.  14’ Brooke took a free kick that was caught.  13’ MT had a free kick at the top of the Aggie box.  The Wall held on defense. 

 

12’ MT really had a good chance here with an odd-man rush.  Short-handed, the Aggie defense still broke it up without a shot.  9’ I wrote this at the time, “Val’s best save of the game.”  Off an MT free kick, Ari nearly headed it in, as she accidently hit it backward.  Val caught it. 

 

Under 10 minutes left, the angry dad and his family leave.  The kids wanted to stay, of course, knowing it was still close.  4’ great Aggie attack, Shila shot just high.  Under a minute, an MT free kick at midfield sailed out.  That was the last action of the game.  Aggies win 3-2!

 

There were three Aggie goal scorers in the game, but Brooke Schultz also had an assist to win Player of the Game.  Blue Raider Hannah Suder gets a nod for her goalkeeping.  This score should have been worse for them.  The Aggies were up 8-3 in SOG and 8-2 in corners.  I felt like MT’s goals were good and legit, but it once again looked bad that they came right after the Aggies got the lead. 

 

The happy Soccer girls came out and saluted the crowd.  They then went over and saluted the Band.  That was a nice touch.  There were no shots on the Band tonight, just a couple of soft ones into the grandstand.  Health-wise, I think I’m okay after going to the game.  I don’t think I made myself worse and if I did, I probably would have ended up the same, if I’d just stayed home.