LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State returned home to Las Cruces on Sunday afternoon, playing host to the Liberty Flames. A first-half goal by the visitors made it a one-score contest at halftime, with a pair of goals in the final portion of the match saw the Aggies fall by a final score of 3-0.
The Flames made their offensive presence felt early, tallying a pair of shots in the opening minutes – finding the back of the net in the 7
th minute off the foot of Halle Engle. While the Aggie defense played stout the rest of the half,
Filucca Daugaard tallied the lone shot for the NM State attack in the opening 45 minutes.
At the break, the Aggies led in saves (3-0) and fouls (4-3), while trailing the Flames in shots (10-1) and corner kicks (2-0).
Marlee Cavitt found an opening and attempted a shot to tie the contest following a corner kick in the 62
nd minute, however minutes later Liberty added their second score of the afternoon.
Taking another scoring opportunity in the 73
rd minute, defender
Yuliana Negrete attacked the goal off a parallel free kick, though the shot went high over the head of Flames keeper Ainsley Leja.
With the loss, NM State falls to 1-2-0 in conference action.
Marlee Cavitt tallied a season-high in shots (2), while playing her 10
th 90-minute match of the season.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rob Baarts, following the match with Liberty: "It's tough to play a team like Liberty on the back end of a weekend where we traveled to and back from Atlanta. It can be an exhausting game. We had a hard time getting into it in the first half. We played our way very well into it, and we kind of got unfortunate with the second goal and lost some momentum.
This game is all about momentum. I was looking at this as a one-off game. It's one game. You lost it, let's move forward. Sam Houston's next, let's go get it done."
UP NEXT
NM State will return to road action next Sunday, traveling to Hunstville, Texas, to take on the Sam Houston Bearkats on Sunday, Oct. 11. First kick is slated for Noon MT, with the match streamed live on ESPN+, and live stats available at nmstatesports.com/stats.
For complete coverage of NM State Soccer, visit
NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow us on Twitter (@NMStateWSOC), Instagram (@NMStateWSOC), and like us on Facebook (NMStateWSOC).
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