New Mexico State hands women’s soccer its first regular season loss in over a year
The Lady Flames soccer team suffered its first regular season loss in over a year against the New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday, Sept. 30, after a highly physical bout at Osborne Stadium. The Flames gave up a goal in each half, losing 2-0. The downfall gives the Aggies the lead in the conference, with a now 4-0 CUSA record.
The first few minutes of play were all Liberty, as the team sent long balls over the top to try and get behind the New Mexico State defense. Each pass was sent just a little too long and into the arms of New Mexico State’s goalkeeper, but with every attempt Liberty seemed to inch closer and closer to a goal, and Flames Nation held its breath.
As Liberty piled up the pressure, anticipation grew in the stadium.
Finally, after a missed clearance for New Mexico State, Liberty found space down the wing to send a cross into the box to a wide-open sophomore forward Ava Goodman. She had enough green around her to collect, aim and fire. But the shot was just wide, banging off the post and eventually to the feet of a New Mexico State defender, who cleared it away from further danger.
It was a shot the Flames would wish they could get back.
A few moments later, the Aggies sent in their own cross, which seemed to bobble around in the box forever before New Mexico State’s Brooke Schultz eventually got a foot on it and put it in the back of the net.
There was still plenty of time for the Flames to turn the game around. New Mexico State’s goal was against the run of play and the game still felt winnable. Entering the game, the Flames had only trailed once this season against West Virginia. In that game, Liberty managed to rally back, scoring three consecutive goals in the final 18 minutes to win 3-1.
However, as the game against New Mexico State went on, the physicality unexpectedly rose to new heights. The Aggies entered the match with more fouls than any other team in the conference by a significant margin. The Flames entered the game at No. 5 in that category.
Just a few minutes into the second half, New Mexico State’s Mya Hammack grabbed a fistful of jersey to prevent a promising run forward. She was shown a yellow for the incident, to the satisfaction of the home fans.
The satisfaction was short-lived, however. After a few missed opportunities from Liberty, New Mexico State found its second goal in the 58th minute.
Flames Nation did not give up, and neither did the team. Liberty outshot New Mexico State 7-1 in the second half. Three of those shots came after the New Mexico goal and the home side had many more opportunities in the box where they could not get a shot off. When the final whistle blew, it felt as though the Flames had missed an opportunity.
It is just the first loss of the season for this team after an 11-game win streak, and it comes after an emphatic 6-0 win over Sam Houston a week before.
After the game, Liberty Head Coach Lang Wedemeyer spoke of the physicality of the game.
“We knew what they were going to do,” Wedemeyer said. “We knew they were going to be physical, and I think it took us out of our game. Missing that easy goal early swung the momentum a little bit. They are a good team, and conference games are going to be tough. We’ve got to find a way to recoup from this and for the next game against FIU.”
Liberty will travel to face FIU Oct. 7 before returning home to host Jacksonville State Oct. 12. Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m. These conference games will present tough competition for the Flames, who have a lot of success to build on this season, despite the loss on Saturday.
Moore is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion