NMSU Soccer Falls to Fresno State in WAC Tournament
FRESNO, Calif. (Nov. 4)-In its first WAC Tournament semifinals appearance, the New Mexico State soccer fell to tournament host Fresno State, 3-0.
The No. 6 seed Aggies recorded their best season in school history with not only the semifinals showing but also a program-best 10 wins in 2011. NM State finished the season 10-8-3, while Fresno State moved to 11-4-5 and a meeting with Utah State in the title match.
“That is a very, very good team,” head coach Blair Quinn said. “I think that’s the best team we’ve played all year. They play a fairly unique system, and it’s something we saw a couple weeks ago but had a hard time dealing with. Even with the adjustments we made, we had a hard time dealing with it today.”
At halftime, the Aggies trailed the Bulldogs, 3-0. After receiving a first-round bye, No. 2 seed Fresno State didn’t waste any time and attacked in the first minute, seventh minute and 21st minute of play.
The loss was the first in program history to the Bulldogs, but NM State still leads the all-time series, 2-1-1.
“There are a lot of positives to take away from it,” Quinn said. “It’s hard to end like that, but unless you are winning the national championship you have to end the season at some point on a downer. Being able to look back on the season and some of the milestones and records we’ve reached are really big steps for the program and help us keep moving forward.”
Sophomore midfielder Mary Kate Koziol led the Aggie offense with three shots on goal. Defensively, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Schutter grabbed a pair of saves.
Source: NMSU Athletics
