This is confusing: two Aggie teams playing each
other. I thought I heard their fans
ringing a cowbell at one point. I’ve
heard of UC Davis before, but I
didn’t know they were the “Aggies.”
Well, I know who they are now.
Last night, Aggie
Football played conference-favorite, Liberty. The Aggies had led for most of the game, but gave
it up late and lost, 30-24. It was terribly disappointing. However, Liberty was a 22-point favorite, so
the loss was kind of encouraging. I was
concerned that this loss was going to carry over to today’s soccer somehow, if
for no other reason than the game went really late into the night and some of
the girls might have been there for the end.
[Pre-Post edit: On the Coaches Radio, Coach Baarts confirmed that they were there for the end and he wasn’t
pleased. Him and whole team were there
and were honored on field, but probably in the first half. The game lasted until after midnight. He did appreciate that the girls were
supporting the Football team.]
(In spite of the heavy points spread, Liberty was only a
60-something% favorite to win. The
odds-makers suspected something. Against
an FCS school last week, the Aggies
had only been like a two-point favorite over SE Missouri, which they did beat.
Meanwhile that same week, former Aggie quarterback, Diego Pavia, led Vanderbilt
to victory over two-touchdown favorite, Virginia
Tech. Vandy owes us a Christmas
card.)
Aggie Soccer was coming off a long road trip. They’d beaten Pacific, 3-1, but then
lost to Washington (2-0) and Arizona (1-0). Loma
McNeese won the C-USA Offensive
Player of the Week award for scoring two goals in the Pacific game.
It was a brilliant day regardless. It was cloudless and warm out with a stiff,
cool breeze. I’d hoped road construction
in front of the football stadium by the soccer field had been finished by now,
but no chance. There are now huge piles
of dirt there where they’re digging something up.
The crowd to start the game was bad, even with a knot of
UCD fans there. There had been a free
ticket offer for fans who had attended last night’s football game. However, it was the opening weekend for the NFL.
Eventually, some late-arriving fans came in to make the crowd
decent. I didn’t see any other Aggie
teams in attendance, but those teams might not have been available in the
afternoon.
I was a bit subdued.
Yesterday, I’d had a pizza with dad to watch the Arkansas/Oklahoma State
game. (I’d never seen dad so nervous
about a football game. I didn’t know he
was such an Arkansas fan. He’d leave the
room during pivotal plays and even left early when the game went into a second
overtime.) We went to the Farm & Ranch Museum with one of his
neighbors, but then I was Shanghaied into a trip to the mountains and then to a
Mexican food restaurant, where I had half-pound hamburger. I didn’t get a stomachache, but I was still
feeling the effects of overeating.
The Aggies had a couple of players starting, Janae Shaklee and Ariana Ellison, that I wasn’t expecting. I wondered if there had been injuries on the
road, but more familiar players did cycle in.
Oddly, it seemed that the officials were late to the game. The usual coin toss for who gets the ball
first and the inspection of the goals happened very quickly after player
introductions, instead of well before as usual.
First
Half
This game didn’t go well for the Aggies . . . err . . . New Mexico State. UCD dominated on offense early. They made several attacks and Valerie Guha, the Aggie goalie, was
kept busy. Before the late-arriving fans
came in, you could clearly hear all of the chatter out on the field. 36’ left in the half, Milana Eyrich made the first Aggie attack. It was a solo charge that was stopped and
immediately went the other way for a UCD attack that went over the Aggie net.
There was a near miss on the Aggie net a couple of minutes
later with only Marlee Cavitt back
defending the net from an attacker. 33’
Other Aggie Jayde Holley found Sam Tristan with a crossing pass and an
easy tap in. 1-0 UCD. It looked too easy. Val was waving her arms at her teammates
afterward. The team held a quick
huddle. The onslaught continued though,
as Val stopped a point-blank shot from Sarah
Canavan a couple of minutes later.
The momentum finally swung. 28’ a long Aggie shot was punched out by UCD
goalie, Caeley Goldstein. Then Milana made a curving ground shot that
was caught. A gust of wind knocked my
floppy hat off my head. Another fan
handed it back to me. This wasn’t the
best choice of hats on a windy day.
23’ after some good dribbling and a pass, Canavan was open
at the top of the Aggie box and buried it.
2-0 UCD. Right after a turnover
on the Aggies’ midfield kick, the Other Aggies nearly put in another one. This was turning into a possible rout.
Xitlaly
Hernandez and some mass Aggie subs came in with 19 minutes
left. 15’ X took a long shot that went
wide. She tossed her magnificent mane of
curly hair back in disgust. More Aggie
subs came in with 12 minutes left. These
players seemed to be coming from deep on the bench. The Aggies made a couple more attacks, before
X bizarrely slipped on a ball she had just stopped. She went down and the trainers had to help
her off. During the stoppage, Mya Hammack and Val were both out
haranguing the ref. I don’t know why,
but I know Mya just loves chatting with the refs. (I’m jealous.)
More Aggie subs came in.
Mya even came out. 4’ Tati Jerman made a good long shot. Goldstein made a nice diving save on it. 3’ the disaster becomes official. A UCD shot was blocked, but Val couldn’t hold
on to it. Other Aggie Teresa Garcia tapped in the loose ball
to make it, 3-0 UCD.
It almost got even worse.
Another UCD shot seemed to go in right after. The goal was announced and was even up on the
scoreboard. However, there was no
mid-field kick, so play continued before it was announced that the goal was
waved off. It was probably an offsides
call. Goldstein dove to stop a final
Aggie shot before the half ended. 3-0
UCD.
Halftime
UCD was up 4 to 2 in shots on goal and 4 to 1 in
corners. I was sort of surprised Valerie
stayed in goal after the third goal. If
that fourth goal had counted, surely, Coach
Baarts would have taken her out to protect her stats. No backup goalie went out on field to warm up
during the break.
The Aggies retreated to the locker room. Xitlaly brought up the rear, but she was back
walking unassisted. The coaches followed
a bit later. The Other Aggies were
sitting on one corner of the field like they were having a picnic, which they
pretty much were.
I sat back and enjoyed the sun and the breeze. I didn’t have much choice. I was regretting not bringing a radio so that
I could listen to the Ranger game
that was on, not to mention the Chihuahuas
and the Cowboys were also
playing.
Second
Half
It was still mostly bench players who started the half for
the Aggies. I wonder what Coach Baarts
said to the team in the half to justify this apparent throw. Still, the Aggies dominated possession for
most of the half. They made several
attacks that Goldstein had to field.
37’ left in the game, a ball popped up into the
stands. A fan shouted, “I got it!” He didn’t get it. 31’ right after Kennedy Herrera tripped an attacking UCD player, Loma was clobbered
on the other end. Even from across the
field, you could hear it. She was okay
and now really motivated. Apart from
these two incidents, it was a fairly clean game. (That is to say, bruising, but not putting
people into the ground.) 29’ Loma made a
great move and took a shot that went just wide.
Ariana was on the grandstand side of the field for much of
both halves. I could see the small,
slight girl get absolutely exhausted.
She was finally subbed out with 16’ left in the game. 15’ Loma took a hook shot in front of the
net. It seemed to go in slow motion but hit the end the far end of the net. 3-1
UCD. There was nearly no reaction from
anybody after the goal. It even seemed
to take the PA by surprise and there was a delayed announcement.
Loma took a couple of more shots. During a stoppage, she was by the stands and
yelled at her team, “There’s still 11 minutes left!” Loma was in on an assist attempt. A minute later, Goldstein had to punch away
another shot by Loma. 5’ Jaiden McCellan took a long shot that
was caught. 4’ Loma passed to Carolina Rodriguez on a breakaway. Goldstein had to stop another shot.
2’ a loose ball rolled down the sideline to one of the
smaller stands. A rushing Jaiden called
out to the fans there to stop the ball and toss it to her. Nobody moved.
Val ran over to the grandstand to take a final free kick. The game ended. 3-1
UCD.
The other scoreboard stats were 4 to 3 UCD in shots on
goal. The Aggies were up 6 to 5 in
corners. UCD seemed content in the
second half to stay on defense. They
only made a couple of probing attacks. I
suspect they could have run up the score more had they wished. This broke the Aggies’ unbeaten streak at
home at eight.
Our Player of the Game is Loma McNeese, who scored the Aggies’ only goal today. She was also the main attacker for the second
half. I’ll also single out UCD goalie, Caeley Goldstein. She didn’t have to do much in the first half,
but was very busy in the second and kept the Other Aggies in the lead.
I was a bit stunned coming into this game from
yesterday. I was more stunned
afterward. I’m not sure what happened to
the Aggies here other than they just ran into a good team (UCD 4-2-0). USC
and Oregon
may have still been coming together at the beginning of the season. Hopefully, they’ll regroup for conference
play coming up.
I’d noticed there was a game going on at the baseball stadium when I came in. It was still going on when I left. I wasn’t in the mood to stay unfortunately. I got back home in time to only hear the Ranger postgame show, but did get to hear half of the Chihuahuas’ game and the Cowboys’ game. I sort of glossed over a bunch of my notes here but wasn’t in the mood to give a detailed account of this game either. I’ll be back for Volleyball later this week.
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