NM State Aggies vs Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Soccer 9-29-24

 

Dual coverage here today.  This is the final day of the MLB regular season (maybe?).  The Texas Rangers had their game scheduled at the same time as today’s Aggie Soccer match against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.  Against my better judgment, I took a portable radio with me to listen to the baseball game.  Unfortunately, the radio isn’t a little clip-on and the El Paso station isn’t very clear here.  So I was sitting at the game with the radio at by my side.  Though I was being deafened by loud static, I could hear the game.

 

There were still RV’s and trailers in the Football parking lot left over from last night’s game against UNM.  On the one hand, it was a 50-40 loss.  On the other, at least the Aggie offense showed up for this game.  That is slightly encouraging.  At the same time last night, the Rangers were down 7-1 to the Angels, but came back with a big ninth inning and won, 9-8.  Nate Lowe had an epic like 11-pitch at bat to take a walk and drive in a run.  The fans there in Los Angles were not happy.  (This dual coverage is already getting awkward.) 

 

As an aside, I should mention that there was some chatter on El Paso Sports Talk that UTEP was going to the reconstituted PAC-12.  They were even willing to go to the Mountain West.  Basically, they want to be in a regional conference, have better opponents, and not be in the same conference with NMSU.  They’re actually adamant about that last one. 

 

In the Aggie Football pregame, AD Mario Moccia said he was happy to be in C-USA, but somewhat baffled that NMSU hasn’t gotten an offer from those other two conferences.  Moccia said the Aggies’ athletic budget to comparable to everyone else in C-USA, except for Liberty.  If they joined the Mountain West, they’d have the smallest budget by far.  

 

The skies were clear blue overhead, along with a hot sun and a slight breeze.  A large hawk circled the park across from the nearby football stadium.  There was no Band here today and the crowd was a bit light, but the girls were excited coming out on the field.  I was excited that the Hot Pan Am Girl was working this game in a tank top and tight little shorts.  She tossed out some NM State flags before the game.  There were two unexpected injuries during the Anthem.  Jaiden McCellan and Marlee Cavitt both fell to a knee and went to the ground.  They recovered in time to start the game. 

 

First Half

42’ left in the half and MT earned a corner.  This resulted in a shot put on top of the goal.  A minute later, Meredith Scott received a yellow card for rough play.  “Are you kidding me?” said a fan behind.  I agree.  It looked like she just barely touched the MT player that went down. 

 

40’ Jena Johannes made maybe the defensive play of the game.  She body-blocked a shot at an open Aggie net.  Offensively short-handed today, the Aggies couldn’t afford to get put behind early.  There was an immediate counter.  Sydnee Johnson and Meredith went downfield on a breakaway.  MT goalie Demi Gronauer dove and fell on Meredith’s shot.  Looking at Demi later, I thought she was out there bare-handed, which would have been a first.  Her gloves were actually flesh-colored. 

 

There was a couple sitting under the scoreboard in the shade.  That’s kind of smart, though not great seats to see the game.  Syd made a couple of solo charges.  Raider Emma Brown broke up the second one by kicking the ball out.  After an Aggie corner, the Aggies made another attack and Syd took the shot.  It went high into the scoreboard. 

 

The HPAG walked by the stands.  She was a complete distraction.  30’ Brooke Schultz fired a shot over the MT net with her powerful leg.  Meanwhile in Anaheim, Ranger pitcher Nathan Eovaldi loaded the bases in the first with one out.  He wiggled out of it without giving up a run.  28’ Jaiden took a long kick to finish an Aggie press.  It was caught. 

 

Back the other way, MT had a long free kick.  Aggie goalie Valerie Guha fielded the shot, but juggled it and it fell loose in the box.  A rebound shot went over the net.  26’ Andrea Alvarenga, again the shortest player on the field, out ran two MT defenders and took a shot.  Demi ran up in the box to intercept the shot. 

 

27’ Marlee seemed to be blatantly tripped, but there was no call.  21’ Val fell on a slow roller.  A minute later, a ball went into the press table.  The ref decided to call a hydration break after that.  A bunch of Aggie subs came in after play restarted.

 

Back at the ballpark (actually, there was also a game going on at nearby Presley Askew Field that I didn’t know about, but let’s stick to the MLB game), the Ranger broadcasters were scoreboard watching and speculating on the postseason.  8’ Marlee was tripped again.  This one brought out a yellow card.  The resulting free kick was slapped out.  Carolina Rodriguez took a tumble by the net in the scrum and had to come out.  She jogged out, so I think she was okay.

 

6’ Marlee took a shot that flew across the MT goal.  On the radio, broadcaster Matt Hicks started a long discussion about ducks.  I’m really not kidding.  (I love Matt.  He’s great, but that wasn’t his best game commentary.)  3’ MT took a free kick near midfield.  There was a rebound shot on goal from inside the Aggie box.  Val went horizontal to knock it away.  That’s one for the highlight reel (except I later noticed that the broadcast crew wasn’t there covering the game).  The resulting corner was kicked out.

 

Top of the fourth inning, the Rangers finally broke through (and interrupted the wildlife discussion) with an RBI hit by Jonah Heim.  1-0 Rangers.  With under a minute left in the half, Lauren Machuca fired a long shot that was on target, but was caught.  We finish 45 minutes of play knotted, nil-nil.    

 

Halftime

The Aggies were up 4-2 in shots on goal.  Both teams had 1 corner.  Meanwhile, the HPAG walked majestically across the field to the tune of Dreamweaver to perform a t-shirt toss.  She really teases the crowd during the toss, too.  On the other side of the field, the Aggie coaches were huddled together away from the team. 

 

As predicted after the last game, Loma McNeese was not playing today.  While I was refilling at the water barrel, Loma walked by.  I said, “Hello,” to her and asked how she was doing.  She was a little startled, but realized was asking about her injury.  She said she’d be okay soon.  That’s good to hear.

 

Back at the Aggie huddle, Coach Baarts was running around and jumping in front of the team on the bench demonstrating what he wanted from them.  A couple of fans were playing toss with a Nerf football in the stands.  There was another t-shirt toss before play resumed.  The HPAG stiffed a little boy at the fence who wanted a shirt.  He hung his little head in sorrow.  (I assume he got over it.)

 

Second Half

There was a slight delay.  The perfunctory goal net check by the refs found the Aggie net was loose at the crossbar.  There was a quick repair and we were under way.  42’ left in the game, Andrea made a solo charge and put it into the side the MT net.  Right after, there was an Aggie corner that was nearly put in with a header.  It was punched out.

 

Aggie Volleyball made an appearance.  Maggie Lightheart (our sweetheart) came in with Claudia Rossi (err . . . I think it was her and not Nellie Reese, maybe?) and Bella Garcia came in a little later.  Maggie’s luxurious hair was dripping wet, presumably from just getting out of the shower.  They all sat under an umbrella for shade.  Marlee took a shot at them in the stands with a kick, but missed.  (I didn’t know there was that much rivalry between the teams.)

 

The photographers for both teams were running back-and-forth down the field taking pictures of the action.  They were running so much I think they could have played on field.  Of course when the Aggie photographer saw the Volleyball girls, he immediately stopped and chatted with them and took their picture.  (Actually, that’s legit, but I’m still jealous.)

 

There weren’t much in the way of shots to start the half.  32’ Mya Gonzales (Gonzo) was tripped in the MT box.  There was no call.  A minute later, the Aggies got a free kick anyway.  A shot on the rebound was caught.  28’ Mya Hammack (my favorite) broke up an attack with a running kick back to Val.  That was risky, but it worked.

 

Another MT attack followed.  Marlee was one-on-one with Raider Arianna Kinsley on defense and giving up nearly a foot in height to her.  Marlee got the ball away from her and kicked it back to Val.  Right back the other way, Syd was nearly in a one-on-one with the MT goalie.  Demi fell on the shot. 

 

Hey, Dustin Harris got his first Major League hit and drove in two Rangers to make it, 3-0.  I don’t know who this guy is.  He’s not even on the prospect list from my preseason guide.  I think he just got called up. 

 

23’ Xitlaly Hernandez came in.  She was clearly itching to play and score.  Within a couple of minutes, X took a shot on target that was caught.  A hydration break followed.  Unfortunately, the player formerly known as Twitter, came out after only playing for a few more minutes.  The Coach was still limiting her minutes.

 

Back to the action, Jena and Kinsley, more equal in height, had a head-on collision.  They were a little shaken up, but okay.  MT got a free kick near midfield.  A low shot was scooped up by Val.  They got another free kick in about the same place.  That one was headed out. 

 

In Anaheim in the seventh, Wyatt Langford threw out a runner at home from the outfield.  “No runs for you!” was the game call.  13’ this one was close.  Val was unprotected and Manon Lebargy took a shot on the wing.  Val dropped on it.  This was followed by a long shot on the Aggie goal that Val caught. 

 

12’ Shila Rasoul made a crossing pass in the MT box to Ariana Ellison, but she missed it for what would have been an easy goal.  Milana Eyrich was subbed out of the game, though she walked along the sidelines and behind to the goal to come out, instead of heading directly off.  I don’t know what that means. 

 

10’ the Aggies had a free kick and then a corner.  Brooke took a shot to the gut by the sidelines.  She bent over in pain, but she shook it off and took the next free kick.  At the ballpark, Nathaniel Lowe hit a two-run homer.  The Rangers were now up, 5-0 in the eighth.  It was also reported that Luis Arraez on the Padres had gotten a hit today, which would make him the batting champ for the season.  He’s done this three years in a row for three different teams.

 

6’ MT had a corner, but no attack.  4’ the Aggies took a free kick.  Mya was forced out on her charge.  I noticed the Aggies left no defenders back on that attack.  They went all in.  The crowd was now really into it by now.  They were shouting and yelling for the Aggies to press the attack.  2’ left in the game, Meredith was listening.  She took an open shot in front of the MT goal and buried it!  1-0 Aggies!  They’d hold it from there, though Andrea got flattened on a play and there was a yellow card issued.  She was okay.

 

Aggies win 1-0!  This one was tough, especially without Loma.  SOG was even at 4.  The Aggies had a 3-2 advantage in corners.  I’d to see Meredith’s shot again, if only somebody had been doing video of this game.  [Pre-post edit: Thankfully, somebody with a handheld camera by the net caught the goal on video.  Oh, those poor MT girls.  They were completely crushed.  You couldn’t see that from the stands.]  The girls did some happy jumping up and down after the game.

 

Meredith Scott gets an easy gameball for the winner.  Keepers, Valerie Guha and Demi Gronauer, should also get praise for keeping it scoreless for so long.  The Aggies seemed to keep the ball in the MT end for most of the match, but this one was really close.  I’m also personally grateful that I didn’t have to write up a nil-nil tie. 

 

When I got up to leave, I started having reception problems with the radio, but kept trying to listen.  A remix of The Outfield’s Your Love played us out.  That was appropriate for Charlie Blackmon’s retirement this weekend.  I had the opportunity to say something to the Volleyball girls on the way out.  I think they won yesterday on the road, so I could have asked.  I think I used up my boldness chatting with Loma earlier.  (And Maggie’s so pretty, it’s intimating.) 

 

I’d planned on finally trying out Voodoo Burger today after the game, but they didn’t appear to be open.  (There were no cars out in front.)  I diverted to Jimmie John’s, which was in the area.  I got a tasty sandwich and listened to the postgame sitting outside, though I didn’t need the extra hot sun on me. 

 

The Rangers scored some more to make it 8-0, which was the final.  Eovaldi went 7 scoreless innings for the win.  Dustin Harris also hit his first Major League home run in the game.  That was quite the debut.  The NL Wildcard teams are still not set after today’s games.  This will mess up the timeliness of my pre-postseason post.  Overall, it was a good day at the pitch and the ball field.