LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Coming off their first loss in nearly a month, the NM State women's soccer team is back at home this weekend for two more conference matchups. As the month of September wraps up, the Aggies will head into the back half of their season with seven WAC games scheduled over the next month. 
 
First, they must go through Tarleton, who is coming off a conference loss of their own after falling to first place Southern Utah in a 1-0 affair. Prior to that match, the Texans were fresh off back-to-back draws to Abilene Christian (1-1) and Utah Tech (0-0). 

This week, they will be looking to secure their first conference win but will need to go through a NM State squad who is eager to get back in the win column themselves. The Aggies are looking to continue the success they saw earlier in the season and carry it into the new month. 
 
KICKOFF 
Kickoff for is scheduled for Friday September 30, at 7 p.m. from the NM State Soccer Complex on the beautiful campus of NM State . The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free, one-of-a-kind, custom t-shirt as a part of our annual Design the Season T-shirt Contest. The winner of this year's contest is eight year old Aggie fan Tucker Montgomery. 

FOLLOW ALONG | Watch 
Aggie Nation can follow along with all the action thanks to live stats from StatBroadcast. Subsequently, fans can also stream the action through WAC International (formally known as WAC Digital Network). To stream, you will need to create a free account through WAC International (no subscription is needed).

LAST TIME OUT | NM State 1, Stephen F. Austin 2 | September 25, 2022 | Box Score

• The Aggies had a rough time trying to keep the Lumberjacks in check. They tied a season high 21 shots allowed - the only other team to produce that amount of offense was Texas A&M (8/27).
• Additionally, the Aggies set a new season high in shots (20). Their previous high came in the home opener against UTEP (19) where the Aggies scored three times en route to the 3-0 shutout.
• Loma McNeese recorded her team leading fifth goal of the season, scoring goals in back-to-back games for the first time in her career. 
• Bianca Chacon recorded her second career assist with her feed to McNeese. Brooke Shultz also recorded an assist on the play - the third of her career. 
• Makenna Gottschalk set a new season high in saves (7) surpassing her previous high of six that came in the season opener to Oregon (9/18). 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Of the Aggies 17 goals this season,13 have come in the second half of games, and eight of those are coming after the 75-minute.
• The Aggies have taken 63 first half shots compared to 77 second half shots. 
• Consistency is key, and that's exactly what the Aggies have been. NM State has scored a goal in every match this season except for their season opener against Oregon (2-0). 
• NM State has posted four shutouts on the season (vs. UTEP, Portland State, Nevada and at UTRGV)
• The Aggies rank top-five in the WAC for shots (140), points (54) assists (20), assist per game (2.00), goals allowed (10), goals against average (1.00) and corners (53). 
• Loma McNeese is tied for third in the conference in goals with Whitney Wangsgard (SUU) and Heather Stainbrook (UVU). Additionally, she is tied for second in points (13) and tied for eighth in shots (20), along with teammates Xitlaly Hernendez and Sydnee Johnson.
• Xitlaly Hernandez is tied with Kiki Baurmann (Tarleton) and Faith Webber (UVU) for top of the conference in assists (5).
• Makenna Gottschalk is tied for second in conference for shutouts (4) with Mikayla Kendal (Tarleton) and Megan Short (SU). She is also third in saves (31) and goals against average (1.00), fourth in saves per game (4.10) and save percentage (.804).
• NM State has four players - Makenna Gottschalk (900), Landy Williams (877) Thalia Chaverria (874) and Mya Hammack (845) - with 800 minutes or more, and three players - Xitlaly Hernandez (780), Brooke Shultz (776) and Loma McNeese (701) - with 700 minutes or more. 

 
 
SCOUTING THE TEXANS | 2-7-1, 1-2-0 WAC | Roster | Schedule | Statistics

• Tarleton is coming off a 1-0 loss to conference leaders Southern Utah last week. 
• The Texans come into Las Cruces without a conference win, sporting a record of 0-1-2. 
• They went 2-2-2 in the month of September beating non-conference opponents Alcorn State (3-0) and UT Permian Basin (5-0).
• On the season, the Texans rank third in the WAC for goals scored (19), fourth in goals per game (1.90) and points (52).
• They have allowed eleven goals to opponents which is tied for sixth in the WAC with Abilene Christian.
• Three players are tied for the team lead in goals with 3 (Mila Bettinelli, Adriana Alonso Gomez, Avery Harr). 
• Kiki Baurmann leads her team with five assist and is tied for the conference lead with Xitlalty Hernandez (NM State) and Faith Webber (UVU). 

WAC STANDINGS | Statistics
 

RANK	SCHOOL	CONF. RECORD	POINTS
1	Southern Utah	3-0-1	10
2	Utah Tech	3-0-1	10
3	California Baptist	2-0-0	6
4	Stephen F. Austin	2-2-0	6
5	NM State	1-1-2	5
6	Utah Valley	1-0-1	4
7	Seattle U	1-1-1	4
8	Abilene Christian	0-1-2	2
9	Tarleton	0-1-2	2
10	UTRGV	0-3-1	1
11	Sam Houston	0-3-1	1
12	Grand Canyon	0-1-0	0

 
 
NEXT UP
The Aggies have one more match this weekend against Abilene Christian on Sunday (10/2) at 1 p.m. Following that, they will have one last home game for the season before hitting the road to close out the 2022 regular season.
 
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