NMSU stumbles in home match against Long Beach State, 2-0
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - Coming off their first win of the season against Abilene Christian, NM State returned home on Sunday night for a meeting with Long Beach State.
The fourth annual ‘Purple Out’ Game in honor of Thalia Chaverria, an announced crowd of 807 came out to support the Crimson & White.
A pair of LBSU goals saw the Aggies fall by a final score of 2-0.
With Sydnee Johnson out of the lineup on Thursday, freshman forward Zoey Gist made her second start of the season, playing a season-high 78 minutes.
The Tucson, Ariz., native led the Aggies in shots with three, all on goal.
Gist tallied the first shot of the contest, challenging Long Beach State keeper Aurora Schuck with a ball low and hard down the middle.
Later in the first half, the Beach would knock in their first goal of the night, and the lone of the first half.
At the halftime break, the Aggies trailed in shots (9-1), and corner kicks (2-1), while holding the edge in saves (2-1).
Another early ball found the feet of Zoey Gist, attacking the bottom left side of the net though the Beach goalkeeper would be able to keep it in front of her and out of the goal.
While the Aggie offense found momentum with a pair of corner kicks and a shot by Filucca Daugaard, NM State remained scoreless.
In the 74th minute, LBSU tallied its second goal of the contest, leading to a 2-0 final score in favor of the visitors.
This became the first loss for NM State in ‘Purple Out’ contests, sporting a 1-0-2 record coming into Sunday night’s game.
Daniela Portillo made her 2026 debut, tallying 24 minutes. For the third consecutive game, senior defender Kennedy Herrera tallied a full 90 minutes of play, while Gabi Hislop and Marlee Cavitt did so for the second straight match.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Rob Baarts, on Sunday night’s matchup with Long Beach State: “At the end of the day, we just have to start responding to what we’re training. We work on things that look good in training, and then we get into games and it’s just not happening.
We got to learn how to step up and be brave and make it happen and stop worrying about what could happen. We got to just go do the job. End of story.”
UP NEXT
The Aggies will begin a three-game road stint, kicking off next Thursday, Aug. 27, against Southern California in Los Angeles. First kick is slated for 7:00 p.m. MT, streamed live on Big Ten+, with stats available at nmstatesports.com/stats.
