NM State Aggies vs Kennesaw State Owls Soccer 10-13-24

 

I have to talk about the today’s soccer match between the New Mexico State Aggies and the Kennesaw State Owls, but really I’m glowing about what happened last week, which also involves the Soccer team.  I was sitting in a waiting room and met Mya Hammack.  She was so sweet and nice and beautiful.  I recognized her when she came in and I called her by name.  She might have recognized me from getting her autograph earlier in the season (8-18-24).  Mya sat down next to me and we chatted for about an hour.

  

 This is an older picture of Mya.

It was wonderful and delightful.  Mya’s charming beyond belief (as long as you’re not on the pitch with her and in an enemy uniform, which includes the refs).  There was one sad topic we discussed.  If I had the chance, I’d always meant to ask an Aggie Soccer player what happened to Thalia Chaverria.  Mya was okay about talking about it.  Thalia died of a seizure from a brain tumor.  They didn’t find out until the autopsy, so there was a delay in finding out the cause of the death.  (So does this answer all of my questions about this?  On one level, yes, but the full details may have confirmed something else I was thinking or maybe not.  I doubt I’ll ever know.)

 

So, you’re talking to Mya Hammack and you didn’t tell her that she was your “favorite” on the team and you still have her poster up from last year, but did ask about her dead teammate?  I was trying not to flirt with her.  (Granted, that didn’t stop me from doing it when getting her autograph, but I wanted to call her “cute” and embarrass her in front of her teammates then.)  In talking to her, I found out she’s way too good for me. Mya’s planning on graduating in December and leaving town in any case.  I’m just happy to have met her, though I’ve told everyone I know about this and I can’t stop thinking about it.  (Meanwhile, Ryleigh Whitekettle is like, “What?  Am I nothing to you (3-4-23)?

 

On to less important things, I was really hoping for a win today.  Aggie Volleyball had had a rough week.  (I’ll deal with that in another post.)  I’d watched a bunch of College Football yesterday and saw some great games, but didn’t get the results I’d hoped for.  (Let’s not even discuss Aggie Football.)  However, Diego Pavia did get another great underdog win for Vanderbilt on Saturday. 

 

Aggie Soccer had had mixed results on the road last week.  Against FIU, the team went a player down early in the game from a red card and lost 3-0.  Mya explained the foul and the rule in play for it.  Jena Johannes had grabbed an opposing player, who was on a breakaway.  That’s a no-no if you’re the final defender.  They then fought Liberty to a 2-2 draw with a late goal.  These were two of the best teams in conference.  It was good news that Loma McNeese was back playing, like said she would.  The bad news was that Xitlaly Hernandez was back on the shelf.

 

I was greeted with a sea of pink at the Soccer Complex.  The girls were practicing in pink shirts and a bunch of the crowd was also wearing them.  I’d missed the giveaway.  (And I was okay with that.)  I have a corral short-sleeve dress shirt I could have worn, but preferred to be more comfortable.  It was hot and sunny out and last time I’d worn a dress shirt to soccer (8-24-24), it was unpleasant. 

 

There were no little ball girls out today.  Instead, it was three athletic-looking black guys, possibly Football players.  I wonder if they were being punished.  The Hot Pan Am Girl was later drafted to act as a ball girl.  (They really needed at least one more person.)  She seemed ambivalent about it while wearing an unflattering orange vest, but still looking good.  I only mentioned the race of the guys because they had no trouble standing for the Anthem, unlike a couple of Aggie Soccer players.  (I did not ask Mya about them.)

 

There was a great passionate crowd out for the game.  Some of the Aggie girls were waving vigorously to somebody in the stands before play.  I sat next to a couple of senior ladies, who were very into the game.  Below me, a pair of grandparents came with their granddaughter.  They brought her in with a Radio Flyer wagon.  It was made of canvas and had lots of features, including a canopy.  I was fascinated with it, but would still rather have a little red wagon made of metal like I had as kid.  There was also an adorable little dog in the crowd.  The granddaughter was intimidated by it though.

 

First Half

No disrespect intended, but Kennesaw State will be abbreviated “KS” for the rest of this post.  The Aggies cranked up the offense to start.  Coach Baarts had wanted the team to stop having to play from behind.  They got two corners to start.  The second one was kicked out of the box, but the ball came to Ariana Ellison.  41’ left in the half, Ari made a beautiful shot into the top corner of the KS goal.  The goalie had no chance on it.  1-0 Aggies.  Honestly, the perfection of the shot was totally unexpected from anybody on the team maybe outside of taking shots in practice.  Ari seemed completely nonplussed with the accomplishment.

 

Loma was playing near the stands.  Without the Band there, it was pretty quiet.  She was doing a bunch of talking.  I wasn’t sure if she was talking to the opponent behind her, or her teammates, or to herself.  KS came right back on the attack.  37’ the Aggie net was left open.  Jena stepped in and kicked the ball out.  KS got three corners in succession.  The ball bounced around the box dangerously, but came out.  Meredith Scott and Andrea Alvarenga started an immediate counter after the third one.  Andrea was hard tackled outside the KS box.  A yellow card was issued.

 

32’ KS was still pressing.  Aggie goalie Valerie Guha charged out on a breakaway.  She slid at the attacker, but missed.  The net was again wide open, but the attack was stopped by the other defenders.  On another attack, a KS header went over the Aggie net.  29’ Mya Gonzales (Gonzo) made an attack, which resulted in an off pace shot that was caught.  KS came right back with a shot that went into the side of the Aggie net.

 

26’ off an Aggie corner, the Aggies got off a couple of shots that were blocked.  Three minutes later, Loma took a running shot that was caught.  20’ Andrea got knocked down.  There was no call.  The crowd didn’t like it.  “What’s with the ref?”  “I think he came in on the bus with Kennesaw State!”  The ref sounded German, but I doubt Valerie (our German player) made any effort to get to know him before or after the game.

 

19’ there was a hydration break, along with some mass Aggie subs.  KS’s bench looked a bit thin and they only subbed one or two at a time.  Coach Baarts was sending in lots of subs during the game.  I think he was trying to run them down.  16’ Janae Shaklee made a great tackle and strip at around midfield.  The crowd loved it.  The Aggies got two corners off that, but no shots.  Milana Eyrich (Millie) took a shot afterward that went just outside. 

 

11’ more Aggie subs came in.  Sydnee Johnson came in and got a lecture from the ref for violating protocol on a KS free kick.  He was not endearing himself to the crowd.  8’ Mya (my Mya, my favorite) got a steal.  She made a long crossing pass to Syd, but just missed her.  A couple of minutes later, Syd passed to Shila Rasoul.  Shila made a great pass across the goal, but there was no one on the other end of it.  3’ KS had a solo attack.  Jena broke it up.  Before the half ended, the Coach was up and yelling at a line judge over something.

 

Second Half

There was nothing to talk about during halftime.  On the scoreboard, the Aggies were down 3 to 1 in shots on goal, though up 5-3 in corners.  That was an odd differential.  To start the second half, Ari was dropped back on defense.  Mya was moved up to midfield, which was the first time I’d seen that this season.  I’d complimented her on her defense, but said she looked like she wanted to be on offense.  Yes, and she was originally a forward.           

 

Aggies jumped out to another quick start.  43’ left in the game, Meredith took a shot that was caught.  Loma had a solo breakaway.  She had a wide open shot, but put it over the goal.  She wore an ironic smile, but was not happy with herself.  Loma came right back with another shot, but KS keeper Charlee Bernal fell on it.  (Bernal was wearing a really sharp-looking bright yellow jersey with black letters and trim.)  KS stormed back with a shot that hit the scoreboard over the Aggie goal.  Val was now really screaming at her teammates.

 

39’ Meredith was on a breakaway.  She put one into the side of the net.  Andrea took a pop up shot that was caught.  35’ this was curious move.  Mya came out and Lauren Machuca came in for her.  Mya’s usually in for the whole game.  She looked okay coming out.  I didn’t notice her going anything wrong.  Mya did keep drifting back to go on defense. 

 

The Aggie offensive pressure continued.  33’ Janae took a shot that went wide.  Next, Meredith passed to Loma on a breakaway.  Loma made a crossing shot to Gonzo, who took a header shot that missed.  KS came back with Alana Nesbit making a charge.  She outran two defenders clinging to her.  Val had to come out and stop her shot.  Val had to catch another high bouncing shot right after.  23’ off of an Aggie free kick, Nesbit countered and went the length of the field before her attack was broken up.  Before that kick, Val had yelled to Lauren to stay back on defense.  That was probably a good move.

 

21’ mass Aggie subs came in and a hydration break.  Mya was back in and was put on Nesbit on defense.  The Aggies had a corner right out of the stoppage.  Another Aggie attack followed.  There was some nice passing downfield, but the players seemed reluctant to take a shot around the goal.  Finally, Lauren settled for a long shot that missed.  The crowd got a bit quiet.

 

17’ Nesbit was injured on the other side of the field.  I didn’t see what happened to her.  She was bent over, but walked off the field with a trainer.  She did come back in later.  No yellow card was issued.  Unfortunately, an overly long discussion ensued about the rules.  The crowd was just loving the ref here.  The ref finally did a drop for KS.

 

13’ Lauren was tripped in front of the stands.  There was no call, except from the fans.  Two minutes later, Ari went down hard, but there was again no call.  (I’m not saying this was retaliation for Nesbit going down, but like I said, I didn’t see what happened to her.) 

 

Still, the Aggies kept up the pressure.  Syd took a rolling shot that was scooped up.  10’ Loma passed to Syd on a breakaway.  Bernal got tangled with Loma and Syd had a wide open shot, which she buried.  2-0 Aggies.

 

5’ we had a delay for a KS thrown shoe.  While the player was retying her shoes, Lauren was smiling and waving to someone in the stands in the break.  I wonder if it was whoever the girls were waving at earlier.  Back to play, Andrea was knocked down.  On the resulting free kick, Syd took a shot that went over the net.  She then picked up a yellow card for upending a player.                 

 

And then, we were done.  Aggies win 2-0.  On the scoreboard, the Aggies still trailed 3 to 4 in SOG, but led 6 to 3 in the corners.  I heard somebody in the stands questioning those totals.  I somewhat do as well.  Taking them as they stand, Valerie Guha gets a nod for a clean sheet and for stopping 4 shots.  Ariana Ellison and Sydney Johnson are recognized for their goals.  No extra points for style, but Ari’s shot was really pretty.         

 

The game was a bit chippie.  The teams weren’t enthusiastic about shaking hands afterward.  The crowd was also a bit angry and tense.  That’s normal.  A good soccer crowd stops just short of being hooligans.  I thought about staying around after the game to see Mya, but I didn’t want to overstep any bounds.  The next game is Senior Day and she’s a senior.  I already told her I couldn’t come to their final home game with UTEP because of work, so I might see her for a farewell on Saturday.     

 

I think Aggie Baseball was playing at their ballpark when I left.  I looked at their Twitter.  They didn’t have a schedule for fall games.  I don’t think I’ve seen a Softball one either. I went to Subway for lunch.  That was a questionable decision.  At least I found out that the ice cream place next door was back open.  Then again, if it’s possible to screw up ice cream, they’ve come close to doing so.  The people working there were nice.  One of them asked about the purple ribbon I was wearing on my Aggie shirt.  It was for Thalia.  They’d handed out the ribbons earlier in the season.  I was finally able to say what had happened to Thalia from meeting Mya.  The clerks thought it was tragic.  Hopefully, we won’t have to memorialize any more student-athletes in the near future.