It hasn’t been an auspicious start to the Aggie Soccer season. I’ve been to the three home games that started their season (8-14-25, 8-17-25, and 8-21-25). It was two losses and a win and they’ve all been fairly close in the score. Their road swing has been disappointing. They’ve had three losses and only scored one goal (three total for the season in six games).
They were playing good teams, but haven’t helped themselves. Against #5 in the nation, USC, they lost 4-0 with three goals coming off of turnovers. (Backup goalie Karolanne Lafortune did get some work in and did well.) They lost 4-1 to Colorado. One of those four goals was on a penalty kick. Tessa O’Neill scored the only Aggie goal. It’s good to see that the freshman found the net. Finally, the Aggies lost a heartbreaker to Arizona State, 1-0. As noted in the game recap, keeper Valerie Guha has had at least three saves in all six games. The team’s defensive orientation has kept her very busy.
What’s been even more disconcerting has been the silence. Coach Baarts has not made an appearance on the Aggie Coaches Show or even an interview. You’d think he’d show up to promote playing Arizona a couple of weeks ago or for tonight’s game against Texas Tech. Those are pretty big names to come here to play the Aggies. I’m not sure what this means, but it probably means something.
(I also read a newspaper article that said that the Athletic Department had a $6M deficit in their budget. The university is on the hook for an NCAA settlement for backpay for their athletes. I begin to wonder if that’s why Soccer and Volleyball couldn’t get any big transfers.)
I was also skeptical about the weather. It had been overcast most of the day. There was no rain in the forecast for tonight, but by an hour until I was about to leave the wind had picked up dramatically. Thankfully, that wasn’t a problem in the stands and died down as the game wore on. It did sprinkle for the whole first half just as the game started. It was off and on after that.
I got to the game 40 minutes early. I was interested in the giveaway item. It was double-sided bucket hat with cow spots on one side and a cute little Aggie cow logo on the other. In spite of the threatening weather and the team’s performance and the start of the NFL season with the Cowboys and the Eagles, there was an early big crowd there. I guess everyone wanted that hat. I missed out. Two girls I walked in with also missed it and walked out. They were also underdressed for the slightly colder weather. I was wearing a hoodie. They were in a bikini top and little tiny shorts respectively.
The field finally looked reasonably decently green. The Red Raiders were on field practicing with sharp camo practice jerseys. For the game oddly, the Aggies would be in black and the Raiders would be in white. The Band was here. I did not see major representation from the other teams, but there were some. There was a kid with a family sitting just below me. He was dancing to the warm up music and was fascinated with my cowbell. Big sis took a selfie with the family before the game. Unfortunately, they had to leave at the half when baby brother got cranky.
The Aggie girls made a solemn circle before the game. Then they started dancing to the PA cumbia music afterward. The TT girls were dancing, too. Their goalie, Faith Nguyen, was jumping around pumped up. Our grad assistant, Sydney McIntosh, was all smiles as she tossed souvenirs to the crowd. She looked cute in a little platted miniskirt.
First Half
The barrage started with the whistle. Kylie Bahr with TT had an easy chance on the Aggie goal that was kicked away. I noticed her because she was playing next to the stands and looked attractive. That would actually describe their whole team. They had very healthy builds and looked nice. A couple of minutes later, Val had to dive on a ball in the box in front of an attacker.
I think 90% of my notes involve shots on the Aggie goal. This could get tedious. 41’ left in the quarter, a TT shot went just high over the net. A minute later, Val had to block a close shot. Defender Marlee Cavitt did manage to outrun Bahr on defense, even though she looked a foot shorter than her. 39’ Taylor Zdrojewski tapped in an easy goal. Too easy. TT was offsides. A minute later, a Raiders’ shot went wide.
At midfield, Ariana Ellison got tangled up with a Raiders player and both of them tumbled to the ground. 35’ TT was offsides again. It would have been another easy shot. A kids group started up a “Let’s go Aggies!” chant. 33’ Marlee and Kennedy Herrera on defense both broke up shots. 32’ a TT corner ended with Val catching a shot. Marlee was tenacious here getting on the attackers.
31’ Val had to come out of the box to defend and made an awkward kick, which turned the ball over deep in the Aggie end. An attacker passed up on an open look to make a crossing pass to another attacker. The ball danced around the box before finally being kicked out. TT got another corner. (I lost count of their corners, actually.) 29’ Bianca Chacon came back alone on a counter. She made a long kick outside of the Raiders’ box and Nguyen caught it. That was the Aggies’ first attack of the half.
27’ another TT corner, the attack was headed out. A couple of minutes later, Ainsleigh Thomson blocked a shot. A resulting corner kick ended with a kick over the net. 23’ another Aggie attack. Ariana Ellison (both Ari’s were on field at the time, so I need to name them fully) passed to Andrea Alvarenga in front of the TT net. They just missed the connection.
There was a mist over the Organ Mountains in the background while the light drizzle rained over the crowd. The rain of balls at the Aggie net continued. 19’ Marlee and Kennedy broke up another attack in the Aggie box. 16’ the first Aggie subs came in. Rachel Haan was with them. (Yes, I’m always looking for her.) 14’ Milana Eyrich came in and made a big check on a Raiders player and knocked her out-of-bounds.
13’ the Raiders were on a counter. Bahr made a crossing shot in front of the Aggie goal to Zdrojewski (I think). She had an open shot at the net, but put it over the crossbar. She put her head in her hands after missing it. This led to another corner. The kick went into the box, but was kicked away. A few minutes later, another corner kick into the box was kicked away.
9’ Marlee made a solo attack. She wasn’t able to get a shot off. 6’ two Raiders were on the attack with only one defender back. Val managed to kick it out. 4’ a wide shot from outside of the Aggie box. 1’ Val falls on a long rolling shot. Finally, Marlee managed to strip Bahr before she could take a shot.
Halftime
It was nil-nil. I’m as surprised as anyone given Texas Tech’s attacking, though we did see this happen in the game against Arizona a couple of weeks ago. TT had 8 corners and 2 shots on goal. You’d think it was be more. The Aggies had nothing to show for their efforts.
A bunch of little kids soccer teams paraded on the field for the half. After getting their pictures taken, some of them got a ball and started playing around a net. There was no performance by the Band, but they played a couple of tunes from their grandstand. Some of the crowd did leave, but most stayed. TT had a serious huddle before play resumed. The Aggies were looking loose.
Second Half
There was no letup in the Raider attacks. They had an immediate corner. Val caught a bouncing shot. 43’ left in the game, Jena Johannes thumped a Raider at midfield. Honestly, it didn’t seem that rough for most of the game. 42’ Val caught another shot. Two minutes later, another attack around the Aggie net. The final shot went high and wide. 39’ Jena headed out an attack.
37’ a Raider player took a shot from outside of the Aggie box. It went high. That one looked like pure frustration. 34’ Ariana Leamons took a long shot outside of the TT box. That looked like desperation. There was a TT handball at midfield. The player reached out for it and everyone saw it, except the ref. No call.
The Aggies managed to keep the ball in the TT end for a few minutes without an attack. 30’ the Raiders’ next two attacks were blown offsides. 27’ the Raiders had a free kick on the wing and chose to take a direct shot on goal. Val fell on it. 25’ Andrea stripped an attacker. She was the shortest player on the field. 24’ two shots crossed in front of the Aggie goal before the ball went out. That was too close.
21’ another TT corner. Zdrojewski made a header into an open net. Macy Blackburn had the assist. 1-0 Red Raiders. That seemed inevitable when it finally happened. The Band chanted out, “No more!” 18’ Kennedy kicked a shot about to go in by popping it up on to the top of the net. Right after that, Val was down on a knee. The ref called for a stoppage, as the trainers went out to her. Val might have been cramped. I thought I heard someone say that she’d slipped. Karolanne started warming up quickly, but Val stayed in.
16’ Tessa was in and her and Bianca made an attack, but weren’t able to get a shot off. 13’ Blackburn was on a solo run and passed to Raleigh Greason. She found Zdrojewski, who headed in another one. 2-0 Red Raiders. Like against Arizona, the Aggie defense probably started getting worn down.
10’ Val caught an outside shot. She kicked it to midfield to Meredith Scott, who was pulling up one of her socks and the ball nearly hit her. It was that kind of night on offense. The action cooled down until 2’ left. The Raiders caught the Aggies with only one defender back. Val had to stop a point blank shot. The Aggies swarmed in the final minute. They got a corner and Andrea took a shot that was blocked. Texas Tech wins 2-0.
Both teams came out to midfield to applaud the crowd. (The Aggie girls also applauded the Band.) I thought there were some Texas Tech fans in the crowd and they were in a section at the other end of the stands. The Band played the Aggie fight song. The Red Raiders cheered along with it before they did their own cheer to their fans and their fans did a cheer back to them. I’d almost be offended, but they just seemed to be happy and caught up with the music.
The Red Raiders were up 10 to 1 in corners and 5 to 1 in shots on goal. Again, that one Aggie corner and shot came in the final minute. Overall shots were 22 to 1. It was a great defensive effort by the Aggies, but they were offensively dominated.
Red Raider Taylor Zdrojewski gets an obvious gameball for a brace of goals. Teammate Macy Blackburn gets one for her two assists. For the Aggies, Valerie Guha is our star again. She had 7 saves tonight. At least, we can watch her be great.
I think Coach Baarts put this schedule together assuming he’d be fielding a better team. As it stands, these preconference games have been a death march. The rest of the schedule may look a lot easier by comparison. At least, that’s how he’ll sell it to the team. This has happened before when he was building up the program. I hope the offense gets going, because I want to see Meredith hamming it up some more.
I didn’t actually see many of those cow bucket hats in the crowd. Walking out with the Band, I saw who got them. They worked hard for the hats, so I guess that’s okay. We’re planning on being back for ***Volleyball*** next week.
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