Photo by Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Texas A&M Soccer
Soccer: Ags pick up first victory of 2013 with 1-0 decision over UTSA
Coming into the season, the Texas A&M soccer team owned an 18-0-3 mark against teams from the Lone Star State since 2008.
On Sunday night, they improved that record to 19-0-3 with a lackluster victory over the visiting UTSA Roadrunners.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Junior goalie Jordan Day had another solid performance in shutting out the Roadrunners.
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Behind a late goal from forward Shea Groom and a few spectacular saves from goalie Jordan Day, the No. 12 Aggies defeated the Roadrunners 1-0 in front of 1,869 fans at Ellis Field. With the victory, the Ags move to 1-1 on the season and move their mark to 4-0 all-time against the foe from San Antonio.
“We probably should have scored 11 goals tonight,” said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. “The first half was really disappointing. Our front line was really bad and our attack was toothless.
"That’s clearly not the way we’re going to be able to play against a lot of teams this year, but we are going to see teams that will try to physically manhandle us and we have to be prepared for that.”
Although his team came away with the victory, Guerrieri was not pleased with the way his team responded to the physical and somewhat dirty play of UTSA.
“Obviously, it’s a win and we’ll move on from it,” said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. “You can’t get frustrated when you play a team that’s going to be nasty and commit foul after foul after foul. We have to be able to keep our composure, and some of our key players lost their cool tonight.”
One thing that Guerrieri was pleased with however was the play of Groom and freshman Grace Wright on the lone scoring play of the evening.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Junior forward Allie Bailey came off the bench on Sunday and registered three shots in 63 minutes of play.
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In the 79th minute, Wright, who hails from College Station, lobbed a ball into the Roadrunners box where Groom was waiting to take a shot. With UTSA goalie Bubba Makela moving to her right on the lob from Wright, Groom redirected the ball to Makela’s left and found the back of the net for the Aggies’ first goal of the season.
“Grace had a great debut,” said Guerrieri after the match. “She’s a soccer player. Not only can she defend well and does a good job with that, but she’s very good in using her body and at keeping possession for us. She did a really good job of setting us up to be able to score.”
In addition to Groom’s game-winning shot, A&M let loose another 25 on the night that didn’t find the back of the net to just seven from the Roadrunners. Only connecting on 1-of-26 shots was another reason for Guerrieri’s frustration.
“We had four shots inside 10 yards that we didn’t even hit the goal,” stated Guerrieri. “On multiple occasions, the goal keeper was sitting on the near post, leaving 15 yards of open net and we missed the goal. That’s unacceptable.”
But as they say, a win is a win – even if it leaves a foul taste afterwards.
On Sunday night, they improved that record to 19-0-3 with a lackluster victory over the visiting UTSA Roadrunners.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Junior goalie Jordan Day had another solid performance in shutting out the Roadrunners.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"right","Size":"large","Caption":"Junior goalie Jordan Day had another solid performance in shutting out the Roadrunners.","MediaItemID":34782}
“We probably should have scored 11 goals tonight,” said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. “The first half was really disappointing. Our front line was really bad and our attack was toothless.
"That’s clearly not the way we’re going to be able to play against a lot of teams this year, but we are going to see teams that will try to physically manhandle us and we have to be prepared for that.”
Although his team came away with the victory, Guerrieri was not pleased with the way his team responded to the physical and somewhat dirty play of UTSA.
“Obviously, it’s a win and we’ll move on from it,” said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. “You can’t get frustrated when you play a team that’s going to be nasty and commit foul after foul after foul. We have to be able to keep our composure, and some of our key players lost their cool tonight.”
One thing that Guerrieri was pleased with however was the play of Groom and freshman Grace Wright on the lone scoring play of the evening.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Junior forward Allie Bailey came off the bench on Sunday and registered three shots in 63 minutes of play.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Junior forward Allie Bailey came off the bench on Sunday and registered three shots in 63 minutes of play.","MediaItemID":34807}
“Grace had a great debut,” said Guerrieri after the match. “She’s a soccer player. Not only can she defend well and does a good job with that, but she’s very good in using her body and at keeping possession for us. She did a really good job of setting us up to be able to score.”
In addition to Groom’s game-winning shot, A&M let loose another 25 on the night that didn’t find the back of the net to just seven from the Roadrunners. Only connecting on 1-of-26 shots was another reason for Guerrieri’s frustration.
“We had four shots inside 10 yards that we didn’t even hit the goal,” stated Guerrieri. “On multiple occasions, the goal keeper was sitting on the near post, leaving 15 yards of open net and we missed the goal. That’s unacceptable.”
But as they say, a win is a win – even if it leaves a foul taste afterwards.
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