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| Photo By: Tim Barnett-Queen |
By Zack Ponce
The New Mexico State women’s soccer team
christened their brand new NMSU Soccer Complex with losses to Weber State – 4-1
on Sunday – and Sam Houston State – 1-0 in overtime on Friday.
NM State falls to a record of 1-4-1 on the season with the
losses.
“It was kind of a weird day, we played way better than we
did Friday,” head coach Blair Quinn said after Sunday’s match against Weber
State. “Friday there was just no
emotion, no passion, no energy, and today we had a ton of that. Right now it’s about the progress we’re making
and the process, and it’s a long process.”
The Aggies continued to struggle to maintain possession of
the ball against a tough and energetic Wildcat team, but were still able to
create some scoring chances.
Momentum swung permanently in Weber State’s favor when WSU’s
Abbey Kennedy scored a goal in the 41st minute, not even a minute after Layla
Todd scored a goal to tie the match at 1-1 for NM State.
“You score a goal and then you give one up within five
minutes of that…it’s deflating,” Quinn said.
“That’s the best word for it because you’ve just done the work to put
yourself in the lead or even the game, and then all your work is gone in a matter
of minutes.”
“Deflating” could also be used to describe NM State’s season-to-date
as a whole.
The Aggies suffered a gut-wrenching
defeat to Sam Houston State on Friday in overtime after Katie Smith’s shot
around the 85th minute hit the left post and started rolling near the goal
line; but the ball was snatched-up by the goalkeeper before the ball crossed
the line.
Quinn has also commented in the past that NM State has
allowed a few “fluky” goals, and is content with the play of goalkeepers
Jessica Schutter and Mikaela Bitner.
“We’ve given up five goals in five games up until today
which is still not were you want to be,” Quinn said. “But having said that…you would think our
record would be better.”
However there is no time for the Aggies to hang their heads
and become demoralized. New Mexico State
hosts Interstate-10 rival Texas-El Paso on Wednesday at 4 p.m., which lands in the
middle of a five-games in ten-days stretch for the Aggies.
“[A win] would be huge for our confidence level right now because
they’re not feeling very good about themselves,” Quinn said. “[UTEP] will be…fast, physical, aggressive,
and they will high press the heck out of us.
It’ll seem like they’re playing with four forwards sometimes because they
put so many people forward,” Quinn added. “The positive and opposite side of that is
they put so many people forward there is space to play behind them, [and] we
have to find that space faster.”
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