Match Eleven
NM State (5-5, 1-0 WAC) at Utah Valley (5-4-1, 0-0-1 WAC)
Saturday, Sept. 25 | 7:00 p.m. | Clyde Field | Orem, Utah
Watch | Live Stats | Tickets
THE KICKOFF
• The only WAC team with a league win to its credit thus far in the 2021 campaign, NM State heads to Orem, Utah, for a rematch of the spring 2021 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament semifinals. Saturday night at 7:00 p.m., the Aggies will battle Utah Valley at Clyde Field.
• Saturday night's showdown will serve as the Wolverines' homecoming game and every second of the action will be streamed live on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
THE SERIES
• When the Aggies meet the Wolverines Saturday night, they'll be going in search of their first victory in the history of the program against their foes from Orem.
• NM State is 0-8-3 all-time against Utah Valley. Now in his fourth season as the Aggies' head coach Rob Baarts owns an 0-4-1 mark against the Wolverines. All-time, NM State has gone 0-5-1 against Utah Valley in Orem, Utah, and has been outscored 14-4 in those games.
• In the 11 all-time meetings between the two programs, NM State has been outscored 24-8. The only player on the Aggies' roster who has scored a goal against the Wolverines is Corey Kizer who notched the equalizer in last seasons WAC Women's Soccer Tournament semifinal game between the two programs.
LAST TIME OUT | NM State 2, at Dixie State 1 | Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021
• Bella Garcia scored the first goal of her collegiate career in the 79th minute of NM State's WAC opener and it held up as the eventual game-winner as the Aggies secured a 2-1 victory Thursday night at Dixie State.
• Assisting on Garcia's game-winning goal was sophomore Khari Price who conjured up her first collegiate assist. Price's first collegiate point came in her fifth game of this season.
• With the win, NM State improved to 2-0-1 all-time against Dixie State.
• NM State won its second-straight WAC opener and is now 5-6-2 all-time in WAC lid-lifters. Head coach Rob Baarts hiked his record in league openers to 2-2 in his time at NM State.
• The Aggies' all-time record in WAC regular-season matches moved to 30-68-10 with Thursday night's victory.
• NM State's WAC win was the only league victory of the night. Grand Canyon and Utah Valley played to a 0-0 double-overtime draw while Dixie State found itself on the losing end.
ABOUT THE AGGIES
• NM State is going in search of its third 2-0 start in WAC play in the history of the program. The Aggies previously started WAC campaigns with back-to-back wins in the spring of 2021 and in 2009 - the inaugural year of the program's existence.
• Shea O'Connor moved into the team lead for goals scored this season by punching in her third of the year Thursday night in her team's 2-1 WAC win at Dixie State.
• Two of O'Connor's three goals this season have come via penalty kicks. That includes Thursday's score. All three of her goals have come over a span of two matches, too.
• O'Connor's goal was the 11th of her NM State career. Those 11 goals are the seventh-most by any Aggie all-time.
• Senior goalkeeper Makenna Gottschalk evened her 2021 record at 5-5 by making six saves in Thursday night's victory. All told, the Broomfield, Colo., product has made a total of 91 saves through her tenure in an Aggie uniform which are the seventh-most in a career by any NM State goalkeeper.
• Gottschalk ranks second in the WAC in both shutouts (two) and minutes played in net (779:39).
• In all, twelve NM State players have produced points so far this season. Grand Canyon leads the WAC in terms of players who have either scored goals or generated assists (16) while NM State and Utah Valley are tied for second.
• Thursday night's victory at Dixie State was NM State's fourth true road victory of the season. That total is tied for the most true road wins in a single season in the history of the program.
• Staying healthy has, unfortunately, been somewhat challenging for NM State this season. The Aggies haven't had the benefit of playing with their full compliment of players since their showdown at Big 12 foe Texas back on Thursday, Sept. 2.
SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• In the midst of its longest home stretch of the season (three matches) Utah Valley goes gunning for its first WAC victory of the season Saturday night.
• Thursday night, the Wolverines put an end to a two-match losing skid by posting a 0-0 double-overtime deadlock against Grand Canyon in the WAC opener for both clubs. Between the pipes, it was Brooklyn Nielsen who made five saves to keep the tie in order for her squad.
• Tabbed as the West Division favorite in the 2021 WAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll, Utah Valley placed four players on the 2021 Preseason All-WAC squad. Included among that quartet was the WAC's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Jenna Shephard. The sophomore has been a constant on the Wolverines' rear line this season and has also accumulated three points (one goal, one assist) so far.
• Two other Preseason All-WAC honorees - Sadie Brockbank and Katie Stainbrook - have been handling a large portion of Utah Valley's offensive duties. Stainbrook tops the team's charts and also leads the WAC in goals scored (five), points (12) and game-winning goals (two). Brockbank has also amassed double-digit points (11) this season and has dished out the most assists on the team (three) to go along with her four goals.
• Defense is the Wolverines' calling care as the team has racked up five clean sheets through its 10 matches this fall. In net, Nielsen has been a constant by posting 24 saves across 10 starts. Through her 10 appearances this season, Nielsen possesses a 1.36 goals against average and no WAC netminder has logged more minutes between the pipes through the fall.
COMING UP NEXT
• Just five more home matches remain on the Aggies' 2021 schedule and two of them are set to occur next week. NM State plays its first WAC home match of the season Friday night at 7:00 p.m. when it takes on Seattle U at the NM State Soccer Athletics Complex.
++NM State++
