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Aggie soccer drops two games, falls three spots

After a 5-1-0 start to their conference play, the Utah State women’s soccer team lost back-to-back games, dropping them from first place to fourth. It is their second time losing two in a row, after Eastern Washington and Utah before conference play began in late August.

The New Mexico Lobos hosted Utah State on Friday, the first of the weekend away from home for the Aggies. The Lobos began their attack early, as a 14th minute goal from Claire Lynch put UNM up 1-0. This would be Lynch’s eighth goal on the year, tying her for second with Myra Delgadillo from Fresno and Utah State’s own Jessica Brooksby.

The Lobos would control the offensive for much of the game, allowing only one shot from Utah State in the first 45 minutes of play, while putting up six of their own. The Aggies would head into halftime down, and would look to put up more shots. They would go onto post eight shots in total, with only one being on goal. New Mexico would score again in the 57th minute to seal a Lobos victory, 2-0.

Sunday saw the Aggies in San Diego as they took on the Aztecs. The Aztecs were coming off of a four game road trip that saw a 1-1-2 record. The Aggies would score first in the game in the 30th minute. Junior forward Bailee Hammond scored her third goal on the season, after fellow junior forward Wesley Hamblin took a Brooksby corner kick and fed it to Hammond. Aggies up, 1-0.

That would be the last of the offense from Utah State; the Aggies would not put up a shot in the second half. San Diego State, however, were about to find their groove. The Aztecs would march down field and draw a foul mere inches away from the penalty box in the 62nd minute. After a few seconds of setting up and plotting, SDSU’s senior Victoria Barba would launch a shot into the back of the net, tying the game at one goal apiece. Barba would later go on to score in the 87th minute on a shot from just inside the penalty box. The shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and fall in. 2-0 Aztecs.

Utah State falls to 9-7-0 overall and 5-3-0 in conference play, putting them in fourth place. The Aggies host Nevada on Friday in their final home game of the season.