Aggie Soccer Hosts North Dakota Friday

Aggie soccer returns to action Friday against the University of North Dakota in Aggie Memorial Stadium at 7p.m. NMSU hasn’t lost on its home field this season and has shown the prowess to light up the scoreboard and shut opponents down, scoring eight goals in a single game and allowing no more than one goal in each of its contests. North Dakota has struggled so far this year and the Fighting Sioux arrive in Las Cruces with a record of 0-4-0 after their most recent loss to Bemidji State on Sept. 3. Despite the poor start to the season for North Dakota, NMSU Head Coach Michael Needham knows that his team must be ready to compete.

Michael Needham

“North Dakota has had a tough stretch of games coming into our match so the only thing that concerns me is playing a team that doesn’t have anything to lose,” Needham said. “They will look at our game as a real opportunity to pick up points. They will see our game as the game they have an opportunity to win this weekend and we will get their best effort. They are a big physical squad that is very good on the attacking side of the ball.”
North Dakota plays at UTEP Saturday night which is unconventional. The traditional soccer schedule plays games on Friday and Sunday, giving teams a chance to recover on Saturday.
The Aggie season started on August 20th against UTEP in Aggie Memorial Stadium, but the game was declared a no contest because lightening and rain in the area didn’t allow the game to be restarted after halftime. Since then, NMSU has picked up wins over Jacksonville State and Prairie View A&M en route to the Hotel Encanto Aggie Classic title, along with earning draws against two time defending Big Sky Conference Champ Northern Arizona and Montana. The only loss was at New Mexico, who defeated nationally ranked Marquette already this season.

“The season is off to a good start,” Needham said. “We have had the opportunity to try a bunch of players in different places and in different combinations. That is going to benefit us as we move forward into the conference portion of our schedule which is really the most important time of the year.”
In only the second season of soccer at NMSU, the program takes an overall record of 11-10-3 into the matchup with North Dakota. Building a program is challenging, no matter what the sport or location. When Needham arrived late in 2008, the only thing his program had was an office and a phone. He has built Aggie soccer with his own hands, blending the newcomers with the returners this season. Through the entire process, he explains he is comfortable with where this year’s team is at this point of the season. “We are exactly where we want to be as it regards to team chemistry,” he said. “The environment is far more competitive this year on a day to day basis, which makes the chemistry a little more challenging than last year. That being said in terms of player development we are developing a solid substitution rotation and finding out what players are capable of at the moment.” According to Needham, Friday’s game against the Fighting Sioux could come down to the play at midfield. “Aggie success will rely heavily on our midfielders’ ability to settle the game down,” Needham said. “We did a nice job in the early stages against NAU, but allowed their physical play to get us out of rhythm a bit. We cannot allow teams to do that to us, we need to impose ourselves on other teams.” NMSU is off Sunday and will prepare for dates with Alabama A&M on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. and Lamar on Sept. 19 at noon. The game against Alabama A&M from the Southwestern Athletic Conference will be aired on Aggie Vision, the first NMSU soccer game to ever appear on television.

Aggie Soccer Hosts North Dakota Friday