It was a packed crowd on Thursday night at the New Mexico State University Soccer Complex as the women’s soccer team kicked off its home opener falling to the Arizona State Sundevils 4-1. After a 5-0 loss at Texas Tech on Sunday, NM State was put to another test but struggled to keep up offensively.
Going into the first half of the game, the Aggies had all the momentum on their shoulders pushing the ball up the field. The team played a fast pace give and go game and was bound to score at any moment, but the Aggies had to tighten up on the defense after sophomore Sydnee Johnson received a red card with 14 minutes left in the half. According to head coach Rob Baarts, this occurred after Johnson kicked an opponent after a dead ball. The Aggies would then compete with a player down for the remainder of the game. With seven minutes left in the half, the game finally had its first breakthrough as the Aggies rebounded multiple blocked shots and forward Bianca Chacon saw an opportunity and nailed the bottom right corner for the first goal of the game.
“That goal in my opinion is the definition of fighting for a goal and you know that’s what I’m so proud of our team,” Coach Baarts said.
With the momentum on their side as the second half began, the Aggies continued to battle up and down the field. Within the first 10 minutes, NMSU goalie Karolanne Lafortune was put to the test having to repeatedly block every ball that went inside the box.
“She’s a freshman, came in and they battled hard,” Baarts said. “She took balls out of the air. She did really well on that.”
The freshman keeper was looking to have her first collegiate career clean sheet, but within the next few minutes, the Sundevil’s Enasia Colon hit a rocket past Lafortune. After the game evened up, both teams had a tight defense until the very end. With 10 minutes left in the second half, the Sundevils took a 2-1 lead after Maley Freshman found an opening in the top corner. The momentum was then in favor of ASU and Enasia Colon scored her second goal of the game. After the kickoff to start off play again, the Aggies would lose the ball while ASU took it up field and put another tally on the board. Arizona State’s Ella Opkvitne then scored the final goal of the game.
The game concluded with ASU prevailing 4-1. Although, it was a tough loss for the team, but Coach Baarts does see a lot of positives as the team enters conference play in the next couple of weeks.
“We’re preparing for conference. All these games are about conference,” Baarts said “We’re finding out who we are right now.”
With a 1-2 record, the Aggies look forward to facing Cal State Fullerton at home on Sunday, Aug. 27, at 1 p.m.
