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UTEP Miners

UTEP Miners
Mina Rodriguez vs NM State
2
UTEP UTEP (5-8-4, 2-5-2)
2
New Mexico St. NMSU (10-5-3, 5-2-2)
UTEP UTEP
(5-8-4, 2-5-2)
2
Final
2
New Mexico St. NMSU
(10-5-3, 5-2-2)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UTEP UTEP 1 1 2
New Mexico St. NMSU 1 1 2

Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

UTEP Earns Hard-Fought 2-2 Draw with NM State in Season Finale

Game Book (PDF)
Season Statistics (PDF)

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The UTEP soccer team (5-8-4, 2-5-2 CUSA) tied Battle of I-10 rival NM State 2-2 Thursday evening. Mina Rodriguez scored a brace for the Miners and Tionna Taylor made five saves in net.
 
UTEP had six shots, including three on goal in the match. The Miners also earned three corner kicks, all coming in the second half. Ana Quintero led the way with three shots while Rodriguez paced the team in shots on goal with two.
 
"We are working on maturing and being able to take each game as its own individual game," Head Coach Gibbs Keeton said. "The maturity we showed at the end of the season allowed us to improve our approach and take 7 points out of 9 available. There are a lot of players to celebrate, and we did that. We  also have a bright group of future upperclassmen."
 
Taylor was tested twice in the opening six minutes of the match, saving shots from NM State's Andrea Alvarenga and Meredith Scott. She later blocked another in the 24th minute, this time from Marlee Cavitt.
 
Ally Stickney got the Miner offense started less than a minute later, forcing a save from Aggie keeper Valerie Guha.
 
A handball in the box from NM State resulted in a penalty kick being awarded to UTEP at the 26-minute mark. Rodriguez stepped up and blasted the ball past a diving Guha to put the Miners up 1-0.
 
Ana Quintero kept the pressure up in the latter part of the first half, narrowly missing a shot in the 29th minute before having a second try blocked in the 32nd.
 
The UTEP defense successfully fended off five corners from the hosts in the first half, including one within the final five minutes of the period.
 
NM State leveled the score in the 40th minute when Mya Gonzales hit a shot just over Taylor's hands and into the side of the net. Carolina Rodriguez was credited with the assist on the play.
 
The second half was a physical battle between the two sides, with neither able to gain much of an advantage. The Miners earned back-to-back corner kicks in the 66th minute, but could not convert.
 
Taylor tallied her fourth save of the night in the 69th minute, diving to keep Shila Rasoul's try from crossing the line.
 
UTEP's final corner of the night came in the 74th minute, but it was headed away by the Aggie defense.
 
Taylor's fifth stop came a few minutes later, when she blocked a shot from NM State's leading scorer Loma McNeese in the 76th. Quintero had another shot blocked with less that 10 minutes to play.
 
Rodriguez put the team on her back in the 83rd minute when she took advantage of a badly cleared ball by the Aggies and hit a beautiful shot from 30 yards out. Guha fumbled the save and the Miners took the 2-1 lead.
 
NM State tied it up at the death when a free kick in the 88th minute found its way to Meredith Scott, who managed to get past the UTEP defense and slide the ball past Taylor.
 
The Miners now turn their focus towards capitalizing on the growth and hard work achieved during the 2024 season.
 
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