Final was a TCU 3-1 win over A&M.
That score fairly represents the quality of the game each team brought today. TCU absolutely dominated possession, especially in the first half. They brought more effort and intensity and, it appeared, fitness. They ran out to a 3-0 lead, and A&M got one back on a free kick late in the first half, but that was it.
A&M struggled to even mount counter-attacks in the first half. In the second half, the Ags put together a few more passes, but struggled to create really good chances, other than a Becera free kick that rattled off the bar.
A&M still lacks a dependable "engine" in the midfield, and often resorted to kicking the ball over the top and hoping McDonald could run onto it. But even when she did, there was insufficient effort to crash the box, so she had few runners to hit with a cross.
Overall, it seems to me that TCU plays modern, quick-passing, hard-defending soccer, while our squad is more tentative to aggressively challenge individually on defense, and is less comfortable making quick passes in tight spaces.
Obviously, it's only a spring exhibition, but it reveals a difference between these two teams' approaches to playing.
That score fairly represents the quality of the game each team brought today. TCU absolutely dominated possession, especially in the first half. They brought more effort and intensity and, it appeared, fitness. They ran out to a 3-0 lead, and A&M got one back on a free kick late in the first half, but that was it.
A&M struggled to even mount counter-attacks in the first half. In the second half, the Ags put together a few more passes, but struggled to create really good chances, other than a Becera free kick that rattled off the bar.
A&M still lacks a dependable "engine" in the midfield, and often resorted to kicking the ball over the top and hoping McDonald could run onto it. But even when she did, there was insufficient effort to crash the box, so she had few runners to hit with a cross.
Overall, it seems to me that TCU plays modern, quick-passing, hard-defending soccer, while our squad is more tentative to aggressively challenge individually on defense, and is less comfortable making quick passes in tight spaces.
Obviously, it's only a spring exhibition, but it reveals a difference between these two teams' approaches to playing.
