LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The NM State women's soccer team will head to Phoenix for its first WAC Tournament since 2017. The fifth-seeded Aggies will take on fourth-seeded UTRGV Tuesday at 4 p.m. MDT. at GCU Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz. The winner of Tuesday's game will take on #1 Utah Valley on Thursday at 4 p.m. All WAC Tournament games can be seen live on ESPN+ with Michael Potter (play-by-play) and Roland Vargish (color) in the booth. 

WAC Tournament
The Aggies will be competing in its first WAC Tournament since 2017, as they will be the #5 seed in the tournament. This will be head coach Rob Baarts' first time in the WAC Tournament and will be looking to lead the Aggies to its first win in the tournament since 2014.

Aggie Rundown
Coming back from an ACL injury in the 2019 season, Xitlaly Hernandez has exploded for the Aggies, as she has knocked in a team-high six goals. Hernandez's performance earned her a spot on All-WAC Honorable Mention. 

Second Team All-WAC honoree Hannah Leitner comes into the tournament with five goals and two assists on the year. Leitner has been battling injury in the last four games but is still second on the team in goals and assists. 

In the midfield, senior Emma Smith has been one of the most consistent Aggies this season, as she has tallied the most minutes on the team in her 16 starts. Smith has taken eight shots on the year a recorded an assist on Feb. 11 against UTEP.

In the net, Makenna Gottschalk and Dmitri Fong have split time this season with Gottschalk starting 12 games and Fong starting five. Gottschalk has 59 saves with a 0.711 saves percentage. Fong recorded 26 saves in her eight appearances with a 0.667 saves percentage.

Scouting the Vaqueros
UTRGV has posted its best regular season since 2018, as they come into the WAC Tournament with a 10-6-2 record. The Vaqueros are coming off back-to-back wins against Dixie State last Tuesday and Chicago State on Friday. The Vaqueros are led by Emily Zapata who does a little bit of it all for the UTRGV squad. Zapata leads the teams in goals (6) and assists (4). In the net, Maile Lunardi is coming off of a terrific performance last week, as she tallied eight saves in two games for the Vaqueros. She snagged 75 saves on the year and has a saves percentage of 0.843.

The Vaqueros are led by Glad Buagriu who is in his 7th season and has posted a 63-57-19 record.
    
Last Time Out
The Aggies came up short in the regular season finale against Grand Canyon. The Aggies fell to the Antelopes 2-0 at the NM State Soccer Athletic Complex. 

The Series
UTRGV took both games against the Aggies on Mar. 11 and Mar. 13. The Vaqueros squeaked by NM State by scores of 2-1 and 1-0. The Aggies are 4-6 all time against the Vaqueros. 

For updates throughout the WAC Tournament, follow the Aggies on Twitter (@NMStateWSOC), Instagram (@nmstatewsoc) and Facebook (NM State Women's Soccer).