LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women's soccer team will kick off its 2017 campaign with home field advantage, hosting rival UTEP in the Battle of I-10 at 5 p.m. (MT) on Aug. 18 at the Soccer Athletic Complex.
 
Fourth year head coach Freddy Delgado is eager to get the season started after a fall camp with two-a-day practices.
 
"We know going into this match it's going to be a tough, physical battle," Delgado said. "I'm expecting our players to respond in the sense of they're going to answer the call for the physical play. Where we're going to try and take the game is we're going to try and change the game from a physical battle into a game of skill and possession. If we can do that, I think it's going to be a good day for us."
 
To celebrate the start of the season, all fans are encouraged to wear crimson and participate in the Crimson Out. The first 500 fans will receive a free t-shirt.
 
WELCOME BACK, AGGIES!

• Three seniors return to NM State for their final season. (Danielle Smith, Cristina Bertoldo and Devin Hart)
• In total, 20 players are returning to the field for the 2017-18 season. Of those players returning, four were the best scorers during the 2016 season. (Aileen Galicia, Audriana Chavez, 'Tuti' Tirado and Devin Hart)
• Aileen Galicia returns to action in hopes of being the top scorer for the second season in a row after accumulating 17 points in 2016.
• Over summer break, four players had the opportunity to play for different clubs under the Women's Premiere Soccer League. (Raeann Garcia: San Antonio Athenians Soccer Club, Reilly Marks: FC Tucson Women, 'Tuti' Tirado: Treasure Coast Dynamites and Danielle Smith: Kansas City Courage)
• Freddy Delgado returns for his fourth season as head coach with the help of assistant coach Parman.
• In addition to the coaching roster, the Aggies welcome volunteer assistant coach JC Garzon and graduate assistant Megan Burke.
• Garzon brings 20-plus years of soccer experience to the field, being a former collegiate player for Escuela General Santander – Policía Nacional in Bogotá. He went on to play in the Colombian semi-pro league before moving to the states.
• Burke graduated in the spring of 2017 from UMass where she was a forward. She finished her career with 30 points (11 goals, 8 assists). Of those 11 goals, five were game winners.

BATTLE OF I-10 ENSUES

• NM State and UTEP will once again square off for the seventh time in school history. The Aggies trail the all-time series against the Miners 6-0.
• UTEP head coach Kevin Cross enters the season with an overall record of 197-108-23.
• Senior Jeanna Mullen returns for the Miners with the team's highest shots-on-goal percentage (.565) with 13 shots on goal out of 23 attempts.

ON THE ROAD TO ILLINOIS

• The Aggies face Northern Illinois for their first road match of the season taking place at the NIU Soccer Complex Aug. 20 at noon.
• NIU finished the 2016 season with a 5-11-5 record in the Mid-American Conference led by head coach John Ross.
• During the Ross regime at NIU, he's led the Huskies to four MAC Tournament appearances, including a semifinals appearance in 2014.

AGGIES PICKED SEVENTH IN WAC PRESEASON POLL

• As voted on by the league's head coaches, NM State was picked to finish seventh in the WAC preseason poll.
• Seattle U was picked as the favorite to win the WAC title with a total of 49 votes.
• The seventh-place pick is one spot below where the Aggies were picked to finish last season.

MEET THE FRESHMEN!

• Dmitri Fong: The redshirt freshman attended UNM prior to joining the Aggies and was a four-year letter winner at Cibola High School in Albuquerque, N.M.
• Jody Hernandez: From Phoenix, Ariz., this Thunderbird High School alum was a three-year letter winner and was named All-Arizona team honorable mention by AZCentral.com her senior year.
• Alyssa Greenblatt: Originally from Thousand Oaks, Calif., she was a four-year letter winner at Newbury Park High School, team captain her senior year and was a four-year principal scholar-athlete honoree.
• Andrea Castaneda: Growing up in El Paso, Texas, she attended Socorro High School where she assisted the Bulldogs to a first-place finish in 6A conference competition her sophomore season (10-3-2 record). She also earned first-team honors four straight years.
• Ashton Forrest: From Rio Rancho, N.M., this Cleveland High School graduate helped guide the Storm to three-consecutive 10-win seasons. She was named 6A Player of the Year, first-team all-state and first-team all-district her senior year.
• Natalie Swanson: A four-year letter winner at Marina High School, this Huntington Beach, Calif. native was named team MVP her freshman year after racking up 21 points (6 goals, 9 assists). She was also captain her senior season and earned scholar-athlete distinction all four years.
• Kara Montilla: From Carson, Calif., this four-year letter winner attended Bishop Montgomery High School where she assisted the Knights to 11 and 13 wins her freshman and sophomore years. She was team captain her senior year and played both as a defender and midfielder.
• Katie Martinez: As a four-year letter recipient at Huntington Beach High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., she helped guide the Oilers to back-to-back Sunset League Championships. She completed her senior season with a 22-9-4 record as captain while leading the team to the California Interscholastic Federation Division I State Championship game and semifinals of the CIF Division I Southern Section Championships.
• Rachel Wolter: Out of Chandler, Ariz., she was a four-year varsity letter recipient at Perry High School. Assisted her team to a state runner-up finish in the Arizona 6A division in 2015. Was named first-team all-conference her sophomore and junior years and helped guide the Pumas to the semifinals of the state championship, ending the season with a 21-3-1 record.

YEAR IN REVIEW: 2016

• NM State finished the season with a 5-13-2 record and 2-3-2 in conference play.
• Nine players received all-academic team honors for the WAC. Of those nine players, seven are returning.