LAS CRUCES, NM – The Aggies earned their first win of the 2024 season with a 3-1 victory over in-state rival UNM on Sunday, August 18, at the NM State Soccer Complex. The Aggies scored three goals on the day, their most against the Lobos in program history.
“Sometimes it’s hard when you’ve just played a big game against USC and you have a rival game like that right next. I think the girls did a really great job of taking the momentum from USC right at the start of this game,” said head coach Rob Baarts“We caught them off guard and built up a good lead. We lost a bit of space but fought back and took control. The lead we built in the last two games will carry us into the next 15 games.
NM State wasted no time in prevailing against its in-state rival – and scored the first goal of the game in the third minute of play. After bringing the ball up the left side, Ariana Leamon played a ball into the penalty area, where Loma McNeese deflected the ball to Meredith Scott who shot the ball past the goalkeeper from just a few meters away. For Scott it was the second goal in two games and the third of her career.
Less than ten minutes later, Leamons made her second decisive move of the game and scored a goal herself. After winning the ball, Leamons entered the attacking zone unguarded and shot the ball with her left foot into the top right corner of the goal from almost 27 meters out.
With a two-goal lead in hand, the Aggie offense remained on the attack when Shila Rasoul benefited from another bad pass from the Lobo defense. Rasoul hammered the ball over the 16-yard box and gave NM State a 3-0 lead in front of their home crowd.
Finally, UNM offered some resistance when they scored their first goal of the game in the 28th minute.th Minute to reduce the deficit to two goals before the end of the half.
The Aggies led the Lobos 3-1 after the first 45 minutes, but UNM had the most shots on goal (six compared to the Aggies’ three) and three corner kicks (two Aggies’ corner kicks). The Aggies had the most fouls in the first half (nine fouls to four fouls by the Lobos).
There were no goals in the last 45 minutes of the game. But goalkeeper Valerie Guha recorded her first save of the year and the 54th save of her career in the 48th Minute of the game. Shortly after the parade Mya Hammack she received a yellow card.
After Hammack’s yellow card, UNM also received a yellow card in the 61st minute.st Both McNeese and Brooke Schultz shot both shots just over the bar in the second half. McNeese fired her second shot of the game in the 87th minute.th Minute.
UNM had eight shots, two on goal, while NM State had six shots, three on goal. Guha made just one save on the day in the second half. UNM led the Aggies with five corner kicks, while the Aggies had just five. In a physical battle, the Aggies committed 15 fouls to the Lobos’ nine.
Next:
The Aggies host their second Big Ten opponent, Oregon, on Thursday, August 22nd at 7:00 p.m. MT at the NM State Soccer Athletic Complex. For complete coverage of NM State Women’s Soccer, visit NMStateSports.com – the official website of Aggie Athletics – and follow us on Twitter (@NMStateWSOC), Instagram (@nmstatewsoc) and like us on Facebook (NM State Women’s Soccer).
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