The Aggies punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the first time ever, with a 1-0 win over Utah Valley in the WAC Final

LAC CRUCES, New Mexico -- What a game, what a week and what a season for the NMSU women's soccer team.

"When we started the season the one thing we wanted to do was just take it one game at a time and when you take it one game at a time, history starts to break," Head Coach Rob Baarts told ABC-7. "We just didn't settle for that one and we wanted the next one."

The Aggies made history alright. This season marked just the fourth time they had advanced to the conference tournament. Then on Friday they punched their ticket to the WAC final for the first time in program history and then on Sunday they won the tournament final 1-0 over Utah Valley.

"This is our last time at the WAC and this was just such an amazing thing to do and just kind of not trying to be harsh but drop the mic and say laters we're onto our next thing and we left with the WAC Championship which is spectacular," Baarts said.

The win is not only the first time they have ever won the WAC title but also the first time they have ever gone to the NCAA tournament in program history.

"It feels crazy, it's so exciting," midfielder Tati Jerman said. "There are so many emotions that have come into it and it feels like all of our hard work is finally paying off and it feels so great to make history with this team."

"It's been slowly, slowly coming and slowly building the program to get to this moment and it's awesome that we have finally reached that and we just want to keep on going," goalkeeper Makenna Gottschalk said.

The lone goal came in the 44th minute when Bianca Chacon put in a cross and Jerman slotted it.

"I was honestly focused on playing the game and not being too in my head that we scored," Jerman said. "Everyone was cheering me on but I was like we still have a game to play we haven't won this game yet."

In a game with just nine shots on target between the two teams, it was a crucial goal to give the Aggies the lead and from there, the defense became a brick wall, with Gottschalk making 6 saves on the day.

"We know how to stop the ball and that's like our number one thing, do not let them shoot and do not give them a chance to come at us," Gottschalk said. "Once we do that we can go at them and that's how you win championships."

The Aggies didn't allow one goal the entire tournament and Gottschalk ended the week with 15 saves, earning her tournament MVP.

The Aggies now await the announcement of their opponent in the NCAA tournament which will happen Monday at 2 p.m. MT.