It’s been a disaster. I say this as an observation without sarcasm. The Aggie Soccer team is 1-9 after their preconference schedule. I went over their issues a bit in an Aggie Volleyball post. Since their home loss to Texas Tech, the Aggies have lost three road matches: 4-0 to UNM, 3-2 to Cal State Fullerton, and 2-1 to Long Beach State.
Unlike the home matches I’ve seen, the team did open up the offense starting with their game against UNM, but didn’t get the results. Backup keeper, Karolanne Lafortune, finished the game in net. Ariana Leamons and Jena Johannes scored against Cal and Mya Gonzales scored against Long Beach. In all of these games, primary goalie, Valerie Guha, was having to make a lot of saves.
Undaunted, I still came out for this Saturday night game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats. The road was blocked to the field and there were a bunch of school busses in the Pan-Am parking lot. I think it was the annual Battle of the Bands at Aggie Memorial Stadium. I’d see some bands going in later, but I never heard them playing. I came way too early after a day of hanging out with dad watching College Football. (We also visited a new Dairy Queen that I didn’t know about.) There was already a big crowd in the grandstand. It seemed much larger than this official 635.
Were they there for the giveaway shirt or the postgame autographs? I knew the shirt was for students only, so I wasn’t excited for it. A family walked away disappointed from the souvenir table in front of me. The grandma pronounced it a “scam.” However, I didn’t notice anybody wearing the jerseys inside. More on that later.
The field inside finally looked wonderful and had the smell of fresh cut grass. We’d gotten a bunch of rain this week. A storm missed town earlier in the afternoon. There wouldn’t be any weather issues tonight. I grabbed some courtesy water, which I appreciated, though it wasn’t hot. It was actually a perfect night to be outdoors. I saw several Aggie bucket cow hats in the crowd. (Grrrr.) I was wearing my Wave the Wonder Dog shirt. I saw a little girl wearing one and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. The Band wasn’t there, which was surprising since it was a bye week for Football. There were plenty of cowbells to make up for it.
I met the Weight Room Manager, Ramey, in the stands. I asked about the Football team, who’d had a bad loss last week, and the Soccer team. He thought Football was okay. The girls seemed a bit down, but perked up and came together before the game. They did seem in good spirits after they came on field after suiting up.
Ramey gave me the unfortunate news that Aggie Volleyball had lost today. They’d lost the first two matches of their road trip yesterday and apparently lost Tess Fuqua today, as well. I’m not sure what happened to her. She’d had 22 kills in one match yesterday. Playing two five-set matches against UNM earlier in the week may have drained them. (I hope I’m not writing, “It’s been a disaster,” about the entire Aggie Sports season later.)
I noticed an issue immediately with the Soccer team with their uniforms. They were wearing black and Val was wearing dark purple. Sure enough, during player introductions, the ref had a long conversation with Val. I’m sure he wanted her to change to a more contrasting color, but he allowed it. The purple was for dearly departed Thalia Chaverria, who was being honored tonight. The light posts were lit in purple. Teammate Blakley Edgar read a lovely memorial to Thalia before the game.
First Half
The Aggies were on offense to begin with. 43’ left in the half, the Aggies got a corner. There was a kick in front of the Sam Houston goal that went wide. The crowd was buzzing and loud, as they would be for entire game pretty much. There was a very pretty blonde ball girl in front of the stands. She’d be a constant distraction from the game. I noticed her little finger was in a cast. I wonder if she’s on a team.
SH came back. 39’ Val had to bat away a shot. This led to a corner. Val blocked a long, high shot. SH got the rebound and put it in. The Aggies on the field immediately protested. Maybe there was a handball? Regardless, Coach Baarts wasn’t mad and the goal stood. 1-0 Bearkats. The PA seemed angry and only announced the goal, but not the player making the shot. It was Kelsey Villatoro, assisted by Ellie Morgan (from the official scoring).
I found that discouraging, but the crowd and the team were still enthusiastic. The action went back-and-forth. 34’ Meredith Scott took a long shot that went wide. 33’ Bearkat Cadence Sanders made a solo charge with a shot that was high. 31’ Ariana Leamons made an attack. She passed back to Ariana Ellison, who passed to Meredith coming in, but it didn’t connect.
SH had another corner. 27’ they made another rush with a pair of attackers. Tiana Johnson took a pass and put it in. (Assists from Kinsey Hill and Taylor Vance.) Val came had come out to make a stop, but couldn’t get it. 2-0 Bearkats.
26’ Meredith came right back down on the attack. She passed to Blakley in the box, but SH keeper, Katie Bahn, fell on it. 25’ defender Marlee Cavitt tripped up an attacker. I thought there’d be a yellow card, but it was just a foul. It wasn’t my imagination. The game was getting more physical. The resulting free kick from 40 yards out was caught by Val.
23’ Ari L. made a solo rush. Her shot was deflected by a defender. It was a near handball. Meredith took a rebound shot that went wide. Some kids in the crowd began a “Let’s go, Aggies!” chant. Where would we be without the kids cheering? Blakley came out on a sub. The Coach gave her a very demonstrative talk on the sidelines waving his arms. 21’ Johnson took a shot that went wide and led to another SH corner.
20’ Esme Arenas (short for Esmerelda, by the way) was the Aggie player that subbed in. She made a solo attack and got passed the defenders. No offsides call was made. Bahn ran out of the box to engage her to trip her up. A minute later, Esme got the ball again in the SH box off a great pass and put it right in. 2-1 Bearkats. Bianaca Chacon and Amaya Simoni-Walters were given the assists. I don’t know which one had the great pass.
18’ a ball flew into the grandstand. The pretty ball girl smiled when the ball came back to her. Mostly, she was frowning during the game. Sanders took a shot that Val caught. The crowd now was louder than ever. 17’ Marlee made a speedy attack. Unfortunately, there was nobody coming up the middle to make a follow up attack. 15’ Ari E. intercepted a pass, but her attack was broken up. Ari would take a long shot that went wide.
On the far sideline, an Aggie player and an SH player seemed to fight over the ball on a throw-in. I couldn’t see who was involved, but the crowd cheered it on. The Aggies and Bearkats then traded shots. At midfield, Meredith took a high kick from an SH player. A Bearkat player was knocked down immediately afterward. 9’ an SH attack was broken up. They got a corner out of it, but no shot. 7’ Marlee made another quick charge. She just missed connecting with Esme, who would have had an easy shot. Esme put her head in her hands. The crowd loved the effort, at least.
6’ Mya Gonzales charged in and took a shot on the wing that was caught. 5’ Andrea Alvarenga had the ball in the SH box. She had an open shot, but instead dribbled around and passed it. The crowd collectively groaned. 4’ a group of Aggie subs came in. A couple of minutes later, a bunch of the crowd left. I’d heard a student behind me say that they weren’t handing out the jerseys until the half. These people were going to line up. Indeed, an announcement would be made at the half. With under a minute left, SH made a good attack effort, but it was off. 2-1 Bearkats.
Halftime
I forgot to write down the halftime stats. Who cares? The new ASNMSU president came out and tossed a few jerseys to the crowd. He’s a handsome devil, I have to admit, but I wouldn’t trust him. Some students came back wearing their new Aggie Soccer jerseys. I also must admit, they’re very nice and I’m jealous. It’s not working out for me with souvenirs this season with Soccer. There was no entertainment, though there was an adorable little girl in a sweater, a long prairie skirt, and cowboy boots, who was dancing to the PA Tejano music. It was cute and she was surprisingly good at dancing.
Second Half
The crowd was a bit smaller after the giveaway, maybe a bit more subdued, but was still loud and into it. 41’ left in the game, Emma O’Neill was in and made a free kick at the SH net that was caught. 39’ I think Ari E. was mugged by a Bearkat player by the Aggie bench across the field from me. The players were in an uproar after this. The refs were “Letting the girls play.”
A band was lined up at the top of the berm on the stadium. They filed into their seats. Back to soccer, 38’ Marlee took a shot in the box that Bahn smothered. The crowd approved of the attempt. The reserve girls on both teams were cheering loudly. A few minutes later, Milana Eyrich took a wide shot. 34’ Kennedy Herrera tackled Johnson on a breakaway. She was called for a foul, which put the crowd in an uproar. There was a free kick at the top of the Aggie box, but Pam Murray shot it over the Aggie goal.
31’ Marlee came from out of nowhere and ran down a solo SH charge at the Aggie net. The girl has afterburners. Back the other way, possibly the most impressive shot of the game, Esme, with four defenders hanging on her, still managed to get a shot off in the SH box that went just wide. I’m still impressed a day later writing this. SH came back with a couple of attacks. Johnson shot one over the goal. A few minutes later, after some kicking the ball around the Aggie box, SH had a corner. Val dunked one shot and caught another.
The action cooled for a bit into a defensive struggle with the ball mostly in the Aggie end. 16’ the Aggies finally got a free kick in the SH end. The ball was punted into the SH box, where Amaya made a hook kick in front of the net for a goooooal! Bianca and Meredith got the assist getting it to her. That was the equalizer and very clutch. SH seemed to have it locked down before this, so this goal surprised everyone.
More violence on field ensued. 13’ Tessa O’Neill was taken down hard. 10’ Ainsleigh Thomson flattened a Bearkat. Meredith was kicked hard in the shins right after and went down. 9’ Ari E. took a long shot off a free kick that was caught. 5’ off a throw-in, Esme took a shot directly in front of the SH net. Bahn had a terrific reaction to stop it. Right after, Meredith passed to Esme in the SH box. There was a big collision with the defenders and the crowd wanted a foul, but didn’t get it.
The Aggies kept attacking. 4’ the Aggies had a corner that was kicked away. 3’ the Aggies had a free kick. Val ran over to the SH end to take it. The resulting shot on goal was caught. 2’ there was stoppage with Ainsleigh injured. (Retaliation for a few minutes ago perhaps.) She came out. 1’ Meredith made a super dangerous back pass to Val with two attackers on her. She was trying to get the ball out of the Aggie end quickly. SH had a corner with under a minute and that was all. It’s a draw, 2-2.
That was hard fought by the Aggies to avoid the loss, which they were determined they weren’t going to do on Thalia Day. (That was the reported halftime speech by the players.) Just from their record, Sam Houston is a mediocre team, so this isn’t encouraging. Ramey had hoped the tough pre-conference schedule might make the conference game easier by comparison.
The Aggies at least opened up the offense. They were up 8-6 in shots on goal. SH had a 6-3 advantage in corners. Shots were even at 13. In spite of the rough play, there were no yellows. Gameballs to Amaya Simoni-Walters for her clutch goal and an assist, to Bianca Chacon for two assists, and one to Esme Arenas for her goal and for being an offensive sparkplug in general.
Autographs
It was time to again stand in line with a bunch of little girls. Ah ha! This time I was with a guy and his dog. I’d seen them before and I thought it was Wave with a different handler, but it was a dog that just happened to look a whole lot like Wave. His name is Bogey and he’s not related to Wave either; he’s a rescue from the pound. What a find! He’s a beautiful animal and just as friendly and well behaved as Wave. (There I was wearing my Wave shirt and Wave hat. I’m such a fanboy.)
While in line, a dog attacked Marlee on the field. I think she knew her attacker. He seemed very rambunctious. Women’s Basketball was here, not getting autographs, but they were on knoll watching the game. I might have heard them a few times. Coach Baarts came by to talk to some fans. I wanted to say something encouraging, but didn’t get the chance. He looked insecure, if not haunted.
I told Bogey’s owner that the girls were going to go crazy for the dog. They did. When he came by, they stopped everything to pet him. I almost think the dog was looking forward to this moment. The girls were nice to me, but not that enthusiastic.
Unfortunately, I either missed or didn’t get the attention of several girls I meant to talk to. (I didn’t just have a cute dog in front of me, there was also a cute little kid behind me.) I was also distracted in line refreshing the Aggie website trying to get the official scoring. I didn’t see who made that second Aggie goal and didn’t hear the announcement over the crowd noise. I wanted to make sure I complimented the right person.
I’m still kicking myself for not identifying Blakley Edgar and telling her she made a great memorial speech about Talia. Sorry. Meredith Scott is very cute and bubbly, but I didn’t get to say anything to her between the dog and the kid. I wanted to call Marlee Cavitt, “Afterburner,” but she was sitting with Meredith and giggling along with her. I did not identify Esme Arenas to congratulate her on her goal. I managed to at least say, “Hello,” to a few players I knew on sight.
I actually conversed a little with a few other players. I congratulated Karolanne Lafortune on getting into a few games and doing well. I asked Sydnee Johnson how she was doing. She’s still not able to play. She’d be another speedy player. I commented on Kennedy Herrera changing her hair color. Thankfully, they posted the stats before I got to Amaya Simoni-Walters so I could congratulate her on her goal. I told Rachel Haan I was glad I finally got to see her play this year.
Finally, Valerie Guha was last in line and standing, whereas everyone else was sitting. She was wearing two ice packs on her hips. This poor girl. She did confirm that the ref was talking to her about her uniform color.
Okay, well it was a nice night and a reasonably exciting game with a good crowd. Still, it’s hard to get excited about a tie. I may be even less convinced about this team’s future. I’ve been offered a ticket to a baseball fundraiser the same night as Soccer’s last game. I might not feel bad about missing soccer.
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