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WAC Tournament Championship
#3 NM State (12-4-3, 7-3-2 WAC) vs #1 Utah Valley (14-3-3, 9-1-1 WAC)
Sunday, Nov 6 | 2:00pm (MT) | Championship Field | Seattle, Wash.
SEATTLE, Wash. – In his fifth season at the helm, Head Coach Rob Baarts has put together a banner year for the NM State women’s soccer team. Along with securing the winningest season in program history thanks to a thrilling win over tournament host Seattle U in the semifinals, NM State secured a spot in the WAC Tournament Championship Match for the first time in program history.
The Aggies punched their ticket to the title game with a penalty kick goal in the 85th minute by sophomore Tati Jerman. Makenna Gottschalk continued to impress, recording her tenth clean sheet of the season – and the second-straight during the WAC Tournament.
The Crimson and White have one final test on Sunday, taking on a Utah Valley squad that won the WAC Regular Season title. The two teams opened conference play with a 1-1 draw in Las Cruces, and now prepare to face off in a match that can only have one winner.
FOLLOW ALONG
- Aggie Nation can stream all this week’s action through ESPN+
- Additionally, fans can follow the action through Live Stats thanks to Statbroadcast
KICK OFF
- Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm (PT), 2:00 pm (MT) from Championship Field in Seattle.
- The Aggies are riding a five-game winning streak, with wins over Sam Houston (1-0), Grand Canyon (2-1), and California Baptist (2-1) in the regular season, while collecting wins over California Baptist ( 2-1, 2OT) and Seattle U (1-0) in the WAC Tournament.
- Utah Valley clinched their spot in the title game after rallying from a 2-0 deficit to take down Grand Canyon 3-2 in the conference semifinals.
- This is the second consecutive season that the Wolverines will play in the Championship round, falling in the 2021 WAC Tournament to Grand Canyon (3-0).
LAST TIMEOUT | NM State 1, Seattle U 0 | November 4, 2022 | Seattle, WA
- With this win, NM State moves to 12-4-3 overall.
- This is the most wins by an Aggies team since the program’s inception in 2009.
- NM State advances to the WAC Championship for the first time in program history.
- The Aggies outshot the Redhawks 19-13.
- NM state had seven shots on goal, Seattle U had two.
- Seattle U took five corner kicks, NM state took three.
- Sophomore Tati Jerman recorded the first goal of her collegiate career, with a penalty kick in the 85th minute.
- Makenna Gottschalk recorded her tenth shutout of the season.
- The Aggies and Redhawks combined for 22 fouls during the game, with 11 apiece.
- Two yellow cards and a red card were handed out during the match: Seattle U’s Kacey LaBoda (18′) and Landy Williams (45′) recorded the yellow cards, with Seattle U’s Kacey LaBoda picking up a red (85′).
NM STATE IN THE WAC TOURNAMENT
- This is the ninth time in school history the Aggies have qualified for the WAC Women’s Soccer Tournament – the third consecutive season they have qualified.
- Their overall record in the tournament stands at 5-9.
- The five wins came in 2011 against Hawaii (2-1), 2014 versus CSU Bakersfield (3-0), in 2021 defeating UTRGV 3-0 and a pair of wins in this year’s tournament night against California Baptist (1-0) and Seattle U (1-0).
- Last year, the Aggies were bounced in the first round of the tournament losing to Lamar 1-0.
HISTORY VS. UTAH VALLEY
- The Wolverines lead the all-time series 10-0-4 against the Aggies.
- The two teams last met in the Aggies first WAC match of the season, battling to a 1-1 draw in Las Cruces, snapping the Aggies three-game winning streak.
- The first meeting was on Oct. 13, 2013 – a game that ended in a 2-2 draw.
- The Aggies have yet to beat the Wolverines in their 14 meetings
ALL WAC HONORES
- Seven Aggies saw their name appear on the Western Athletic Conference’s postseason awards list that the league announced Tuesday.
- Loma McNeese becomes the first Aggies to earn All-WAC First Team honors since 2017 and just the fourth player in NM State history to earn First Team honors. McNeese leads the Aggies with nine goals and 23 points this season. With nine goals, McNeese has tied Audriana Chavez for fourth on NM State’s single-season goals record.
- Makenna Gottschalk, Landy Williams, and Xitlaly Hernandez each earned a selection to the All-WAC Second Team. Hernandez also earned second team honors in the fall of 2021, making her the only current Aggie to earn multiple career selections.
- Hernandez split the team lead in assists with Bianca Chacon at seven apiece, while also landing 16 shots on goal. The highlight of Hernandez’s season came against Nevada on September 9 when she dished out three assists.
- Gottschalk posted a stellar season in net for the Aggies, recording eight shutouts. Posting what is currently the fourth highest save percentage in school history, Gottschalk shattered the NM State records for shutouts in a single-season and goals-against-average.
Throughout the season, Gottschalk received plenty of assistance from her back line which featured Williams. In her second season with the Aggies, Williams logged 1,492 minutes – Third highest among the NM State roster. The defense allowed just 15 goals this season, obliterating the previous low of 25, set by the 2011 team. - The Aggies also saw a trio of players in Jena Johannes, Sofia Beerworth, and Sydnee Johnson selected to the Freshman All-WAC Team. Beerworth was the lone freshman to log over 1,000 minutes, playing in 1,034. The Montreal, Canada native picked up two goals and two assists in her freshman campaign. Beerworth logged her first career goal in the crimson and white on September 1 against UTEP.
- Johannes recorded her first career assist in NM State’s contest versus California Baptist on Sep. 29. The freshman defender appeared in 15 contests, making 11 starts and tallying three points. The freshman from Kihei, Hawai’i found the back of the net for the first time against Nevada on September 9.
- As a true freshman, Johnson appeared in all 17 matches for NM State, making eight starts. Johnson beat the keeper three times this season, notching goals against Portland State, Nevada, and Southern Utah, including a game winner.
NEXT UP
The winner of this match will be crowned the 2022 WAC Champions and will be the conference representative in the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
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