In their final battle at home, the New Mexico State University women’s soccer team managed to secure a 0-0 tie against the Sam Houston State Bearkats and maintained its reign at the top of the Conference USA standings.
After the Aggies’ previous game against Florida International, the Aggies wanted to go out with a bang in front of their fans. The seniors prepared to take foot on the home pitch for their final regular season match before the conference tournament. With the first sound of the whistle, it would be nothing but business for the Aggies.
Within the first 10 minutes of the game, the Aggies quickly started to apply pressure on the Bearkat’s defense with fast ball movements to keep the Bearkat’s on their paws. After an Aggie corner kick, the team looked for life after the ball was passed to Gianna Valenti for a shot but her shot missed wide of the net. From there, the game was jam packed defensively, but the Bearkats found a hole in the Aggies’ defense and SHSU’s Dana Hanson took a shot but slightly missed the target.
As minutes remained in the half, Aggie forward Shila Rasoul came in and rapidly delivered a laser at the goal but was blocked by SHSU’s goalkeeper Savannah Hall. By the end of the first half, both teams went into the locker rooms tied at zero a piece and with only two total shots each.
The second half started off similarly as Aggie forward Megan Ormson took her shot, but the Bearkats capitalized on the defense and regained possession. As the Bearkats moved up the field, Tiana Johnson blasted a shot towards the bottom right corner but failed to get past NMSU’s wall of a goalkeeper Valerie Guha. Just when the Aggie defense saw a sigh of relief, Jasmine Marquez fired at the top corner, but Guha again made a remarkable save to keep the game tied at 0-0. After Guha’s save, junior Mya Hammack took matters into her own hands with a shot off the top corner of the crossbar.
The Aggies’ offense refused to let up and kept their fans on their toes blasting multiple shots on Bearkat goalie, Savannah Hall. Hall remained busy in the final minutes and saved three close goals. In the last two minutes, both teams pushed up the field to get the final shot off in hopes of winning the match.
After Guha saved a shot from Pam Murray, the Aggies’ offense rushed up the field leaving the final shots for Gia Valenti and senior Loma McNeese. Unfortunately, the referee blew the final whistle and the game finished without a single goal on either side.
Now that the season is ending and with one game remaining for the Aggies, they potentially will earn a spot early in the Conference USA championship for the first year and time in program history.
The Aggies will now travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky for a Friday night matchup against Western Kentucky, on Oct. 26 at 5 p.m., for the final regular season game. After that, the Aggies will be playing in the Conference USA tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA Women’s Soccer tournament.
