EDINBURG, Texas - NM State women's soccer made its way to Texas Friday evening for the first of two conference road games. First, they squared up against The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in a match that saw no scoring for nearly 80 minutes. That was until Xitlaly Hernandez found Loma McNeese for the late go-ahead goal, which would ultimately become the game winning score. 

Scoring Summary
77' | As time was winding down in the match, the game was looking like it was headed for another draw, which would be the third consecutive draw for the Aggies to start conference play. However, the hope for a victory was not lost. The Aggies have seven goals after the 75-minute in games this season, and Loma McNeese decided she wanted to make that eight.
Some nice dribbling by Xitlaly Hernandez allowed her to slip past the defender and into the Vaquero's goal box when she found Loma McNeese on to the right side. McNeese quickly received the pass and connected with the back of the net for the game winning goal. 
 
Performances / Stats of Note
• NM State had a rough time in the first half finding scoring opportunities as they only recorded six shots, two on goal. The second half was a much different story, however, as the Aggies had ten total shots with eight of them on target. The Aggies held the Vaqueros to just nine shots the whole game with four of them on goal. 
• Loma McNeese recorded her fourth goal of the season and seventh of her career. She has once again drawn even with Bianca Chacon for the team lead in goals and both players are tied for fourth in the conference in scores. 
• Xitlaly Hernandez added another assist to her season total bringing her to five. She has recorded an assist in three of the last four matches (UTRGV, Utah Valley and Nevada). Additionally, she has drawn even with Kiki Baurmann (Tarleton) and Faith Webber (Utah Valley) for top of the conference in assist. 
• Makenna Gottschalk now has 34 saves on the season, 178 in her career, and ranks fourth in the conference for the category. 
• NM State ranks top-five in the conference in shots (120), points (50), goals (16), assist (18), and goals allowed (8).
• With the win, the Aggies bring their conference point total to five. For the moment, that puts them in third place in the WAC conference standings just behind Southern Utah and Utah Tech. With more games to be played this weekend, we will have to wait and see if the Aggies will move up, down, or stay put. 
 
Next Up
The Aggies will travel to Nacogdoches, Texas Sunday (9/25) to face Stephen F. Austin for the second and final game of this short two-game road trip. Kickoff for that one is set for 12:00 p.m. (noon) mountain time. Following that match, the Aggies will return home for the last three home games of the season before hitting the road again to close out the regular season.