LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women's soccer team looks to notch its first win of the season this weekend as the Aggies wrap up the final leg of their four-match road swing. First up for NM State will be the Crusaders of Valparaiso at 6:30 p.m. (MT) on Friday, Aug. 26. Aggie fans can listen to Friday's contest on TuneIn online or on their mobile or tablet device via the TuneIn app. NM State then squares off against UIC at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28.
 
VALPARAISO LINKS: LIVE STATS | TuneIn | @NMStateWSOC | @ValpoWSO
UIC LINKS: LIVE STATS | @NMStateWSOC | @UICWomensSoccer
 
QUICK HITS

• Valparaiso (0-2-0) and UIC (0-0-2) are one of five teams the Aggies (0-2-0) have never played against before on their 2016 schedule.
• Danielle Smith made her first-career start wearing the Crimson & White this past Monday at Northern Arizona while Ashley Martin made her first start of 2016 against NAU as well.
• Freshman Tuti Tirado made her Aggie debut on Monday against NAU when she checked in in the second half.
• NM State has had two different starting line-ups to start its 2016 season.

 
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS

• Women's soccer enters its 24th season as a varsity program at Valparaiso in 2016.
• They were picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the Horizon League Preseason Poll done by the league's head coaches.
• NM State and Valpo are battling for their first win of 2016 on Friday with both teams sitting at 0-2.
• The Crusaders have started the year 0-2 in 12 different seasons. Of those 12 seasons, Valparaiso has only bounced back in its third match three times (2015, 2004 and 1998).
• Valpo opened its season on the road at IUPUI and lost 2-0 before the Crusaders fell 1-0 at Bowling Green.
• The Brown and Gold return 18 letterwinners from last season, including five of its top seven point scorers.           
• The Crusaders return two-time Horizon League honoree April Cronin and sophomore midfielder Kelsey Jahn, who earned all-freshman team accolades last season.
• Cronin, Valpo's leading goal scorer and point scorer the last two seasons, returns for her senior campaign at the forward position.
• Sydney Galvez-Daley also returns in goal for the Crusaders. The redshirt senior posted a 1.30 goals against average last season and a 0.43 GAA in 2014.

 
KEEPING AN EYE ON THE FLAMES

• UIC enters its third season as a Division I program and is 8-27-2 since making the transition.
• UIC was picked to finish eighth according to the Horizon League preseason poll voted on by the league's head coaches.
• The Flames return all but one starter from last season's team that went 5-12-2 and 2-6-1 in the Horizon League. They also have 19-of-24 letterwinners coming back and have added nine new players to the lineup.
• Of the 28 players on the roster, 15 are upperclassmen – three seniors and 12 juniors.
• UIC will have 6-of-7 point scorers returning for them, including leading goal scorer Olivia Everin (9).
• UIC tied both of their matches to start the 2016, drawing Northern Illinois 0-0 on the road in its season opener before holding Belmont to a draw in its home opener a couple days later.
• After playing just one game last season, junior Annie DiCanio has started both matches so far for the Flames. She opened the year with three saves against NIU and followed up with seven saves against Belmont.

 
LAST TIME OUT

• The NM State women's soccer team is still in search of its first win in 2016 after dropping a close 1-0 match to Northern Arizona this past Monday (8/22).
• The lone goal by NAU at the 17:03 mark was enough as NM State couldn't convert on its seven shots, four of which came on goal. Its best chance came at the 83:43 mark when Audriana Chavez's rocket in the box was saved by a diving NAU goalkeeper.
• Sophomore Ashley Martin, who started in goal, stopped five of the 12 shots she faced while giving up just the lone goal early on in the first half.

 
LOOKING AHEAD

• NM State Aggie fans will have an opportunity to see the new Under Armour uniforms for football, soccer and volleyball on Thursday, Sept. 1. The social hour begins at 5 p.m. before the fashion show like unveiling of the uniforms begins at 6:15 p.m. inside the Barnes & Noble Bookstore on campus.
• Following the fashion show, the women's soccer team will host Texas State at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2, in its home opener.
• The Aggies are 0-3 all-time against the Bobcats and 0-1 when playing at home.
• New Mexico State then wraps up its two-match homestand with Wyoming at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 4, at the Soccer Athletic Complex.
• NM State is 2-0 all-time against the Cowgirls and will battle Wyoming in Las Cruces for the first time in program history.
• The Aggies are 2-4-1 all-time in their home-openers with wins coming in 2011 and 2013.