Hot and sweaty were the words of the day. After about five minutes in the stands, I was soaking wet. It was partly cloudy, but none of it was blocking the sun.
Here’s the Wave the Wonder Dog shirt I mentioned last time at Aggie Soccer. I couldn’t resist getting one. I thought I saw him at the game, though not with his owner . . . err . . . agent. He should be a rich dog with all of this licensing. (Yes, most of the NIL money at NMSU goes to the dog.)
A different new Pistol Pete was at today’s game. This one needs to work on his mustache, but its close. Give it like three weeks. The crowd was just okay for the game. Abilene Christian brought a bunch of fans with them. They were loud and a bit obnoxious, but not too bad. We can live with it. They were behind me, along with a cheering section for Aggie defender, Marlee Cavitt. They were yelling like crazy for her.
Also crazy, backup goalie Karolanne Lafortune, did a wild dance for the team when they made a circle before the game. We need to find something for this girl to do, but we do want Valerie Guha in the net. Maybe Coach Jordan could use Karol as a hitter on the Volleyball team. Just a thought.
First Half
The smaller crowd allowed me to hear Coach Baarts across the field. He was yelling when the game started. The AB fans were cheering mostly for their forward, Shakira Kafero-Roberts. Unlike similar players on the Aggie team, Shakira did not take a knee for the Anthem.
40’ left in the half, Bianca Chavez accidently kicked a ball into Wildcat defender Sophie Rush’s face. Thankfully, it wasn’t a hard kick. Bianca patted her on the butt when she ran by. Right after, a ball went into the stands. Thankfully again, it wasn’t coming directly at me like on Thursday. I picked the ball up and put it back into play.
39’ AB made a nice attack. They were very patient passing the ball around for a good shot. They got a corner kick out of it and made a shot in the box that just went over the net. Right after, defender Kennedy Herrera broke up another attack.
36’ Shakira was right by the Aggie net with the ball. Her shot went just wide. Marlee was guarding her. Marlee was significantly shorter and not as well built, but kept up with her. 33’ there was a shot on the wing at the Aggie goal. Val stopped it. She had to stop another shot right after. A couple of minutes later, she had to catch a soft shot from outside the box. By this point, Val was getting mad at her own team.
Did it work? 28’ the Aggies got the ball downfield for maybe the second in the game and got a corner. Meredith received the kick and promptly headed it right into the goal. Just like that it was 1-0 Aggies on their first attack. Meredith ran by and played to the crowd. By all means, keep scoring and ham it up, girl!
A few more of Marlee’s friends came in. “You look so excited to be here.” “Georgia’s heat is nothing like this.” That was the conversation. 22’ Bianca took a weak roller shot at the AC goal. 20’ AC was back on the attack. Marlee blocked a shot. There was a rebound roller shot that Val scooped up.
18’ the players got a Hydration break. Right out of it, Meredith was chasing the ball into the AC box and had a one-on-one with their goalie, Lili Ross. Ross jumped on the loose ball before Meredith got there. 15’ Yayu Wu from Taiwan entered the game for the Aggies. I’d noticed the new international player on the roster. 12’ Meredith was on a solo attack and took a shot. Ross just deflected it.
6’ Marlee was by the stands and her friends went crazy for her. Marlee turned her back to the crowd. I think she was trying not to laugh. 5’ Val caught a weak shot in the air. 2’ AC took another shot in the Aggie box. Again, it popped over the net. 1’ Rachel Haan came into the game. I’m encouraged that the Coach is trying to get her some playing time. 1-0 Aggies at the half.
Second Half
There was no entertainment for halftime. There was also no courtesy water left in the barrel. I didn’t see it when I came in. Some of the crowd, including Marlee’s friends, left. It was 1-1 on corners and AC was up 3-2 on shots on goal.
49’ Bianca made a nice chip shot on goal that went just wide. AC changed out goalies for the half to Bella Medrano. I didn’t notice. It’s just that I remember their fans shouting “Bella!” for her. Pete came by to lead the crowd in a cheer. I’m hoping we’ll get the Band out for the next game, too.
40’ Milana Eyrich (Millie) made a solo charge downfield. I don’t think there was anyone to pass to and she didn’t take a shot. Her, Bella, and the AC defender all went down in a heap in the AC box. There were dueling fans in the crowd. An Aggie fan wanted a foul called. An AC fan shouted, “That was legal!”
37’ Val caught a shot on the wing. A couple of minutes later, Meredith got tripped pretty obviously. No call. 33’ Ariana Ellison passed to Millie for a deflection shot. Bella forced it out. 29’ I suspect the Coach will run back the video on this sequence on Monday for the team for some instruction. The Aggies started dithering on their end of the field. Finally, Val started yelling at them to “Push!” AC ended up with an excellent chance. Val deflected a rolling shot and a rebound shot went just wide. AC got another corner right after, but no shots came from it.
26’ Meredith ran over Bella in the AC box trying to get to a pass. There was an Aggie corner after and mass subs were sent in for the Aggies before the shot. Meredith came out. Before the corner, Bianca got a yellow card. Somehow, she’d gone out of bounds and came back in to kick the ball or something like that. An AC fan explained it. The corner shot was punched out. That led to another corner from the other side and then a third corner kick. The Aggies didn’t get off any shots. (More team video watching on Monday.)
21’ Ari jumped up and fell backward on an AC attacker and AC got a free kick on the wing of the Aggie goal. They didn’t get a shot on goal. Back the other way, Daniela Portillo took a shot on the AC goal. Dani tried to curl it in to the top shelf, but it was caught. Val was screaming, “More energy!” Unfortunately, AC heard her. 16’ a Wildcat shot skipped across the front of the Aggie goal off of a couple of players.
There was a Hydration break right after that. Meredith came back in. 15’ Bella fell on a pass with Dani coming up on her. 15’ Janae Shaklee’s hand got stepped on in play. She had to come out immediately. Rachel was back in. When play resumed, there was an AC attack in front of the Aggie net. Val fell on the ball and might have gotten kicked when she was down. She had words with an AC player. The ref also said something.
12’ Meredith kicked a ball into the head of an AC defender in the AC box. The ref stopped play to make the girl was okay. She shrugged it off. Meredith then pushed down an AC player at midfield. A near fight started between Blakley Edgar and an AC player right after. Blakley got a yellow for that. During another stoppage, Meredith yelled out to the team, “Take a breath!”
The AC player that got hit on the head a couple of minutes ago got hit again. It might have been Keely Niehues. I wonder if this was also the same player that got hit in the first half. She was again okay. I agree with a fan comment, “Hard headed!” 7’ mass Aggie subs came in. 6’ Ari was hurt on the sideline on a play, but stayed in. The offending AC player apologized to the ref.
2’ Tessa O’Neill had the ball and was charging at the AC goal. A defender pulled on her jersey and dragged them both down. AC was given possession. The crowd was angry. In the final minute, Millie was charging for an attack and the defender dragged her down. This time it was a free kick by the AC goal for the Aggies. The Aggies chose not to take a shot and instead dribbled it out. Aggies win, 1-0!
AC still led on shots on goal, 5-3. Corners were 4-2 Aggies. The girls hugged and were happy. Coach Baarts wasn’t happy and had some words with the refs. As per Abilene Christian’s tradition, both teams made a prayer circle after the game. That was a nice touch. The Aggies then waved to the crowd. Val blew kisses. Her and Meredith are again Gameball recipients.
The Aggies looked a lot better today. It’s still troubling that Meredith seems to be the only attack option. I’m sure other teams are going to be double teaming her and then some from now on until somebody else becomes an offensive threat. Their defense was stout, but you can’t rely on holding one-goal leads for most of the game. Their next game will be a real test against ***Arizona.***
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