COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – On first blush, the shot off the boot of Denver’s Michaela McGowan a few yards outside the box seemed speculative, at best. And yet, it was that mid-first half shot that did what the Texas A&M soccer team couldn’t do with consistency throughout Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Pioneers — find the back of the net with pinpoint accuracy.
The Aggies produced 19 shots, many of which came from inside the penalty box, but produced six shots on goal and two goals. It stood in stark contrast from the 5-0 Aggie victory over Lamar last week where the Aggie attack converted on a high percentage of its scoring chances.
“[Denver] played great,” head coach G Guerrieri said. “Their finishing was awesome and their finishing was everything that our finishing wasn’t and that just kind of came down to it. They had three really good caches and scored and we had a lot of good chances and we absolutely didn’t finish the chances.”
A&M has consistently had success in nonconference play at Ellis Field. The last non-power conference regular season home loss the Aggies suffered was on Sept. 19, 2021 — a 1-0 loss to then No. 9 Pepperdine. Seven years ago, the Aggies lost to Butler, in what was the last defeat suffered by the Aggies at the hands of a team outside of a power conference and outside the Top 25.
Denver entered Wednesday’s contest coming off of a 1-0 loss to Idaho State, but took eighth-ranked North Carolina to the wire in a 2-1 loss to kick off their season.
“We’ve got to do better to defend our home soil and it’s disappointing,” Guerrieri said. “We don’t lose very often at home. And again, hats off to Denver for coming in and getting a win here. But, it’s got to be something that we learn from and that we’ve got to learn from pretty quick.”
Here’s the rundown:
Why did A&M lose? The Aggies were too loose in defense in the midfield. Turnovers in possession, leading to loss defensive play in the midfield created all three of Denver’s goals in the game.
After the half, with the score tied 2-2, Guerrieri went from a four-man back line to three, in an attempt to bolster the middle of the formation. However, after A&M was caught out on a break away, Denver mounted a counter attack of its own, which left the Aggies defending a two-on-two situation.
McGowan powered through a tackle by Aggie defender Carolyn Calzada and fed a pass to Megan Murray for the game-winning goal.
“They were doing so well in the midfield, we needed to put more numbers in the middle of the field to try to do something — put a little more pressure on them there,” Guerrieri said. “And, once our midfield woke up a little bit, we were able to do that. But even the goal that they scored was a terrific setup by their midfield.”
The Pioneers notched their first on the precision shot by McGowan in the 30th minute. They took the lead ten minutes later after another midfield turnover led to a cross-goal shot by Ella Frost.
What went well for A&M? The Aggies were consistently able to mount an attack. Pressure early in the game led to a quick lead. A&M funneled the attack through midfielder Mia Pante on the left side and six minutes into the game, she was able to slip past her defender on the end line and feed forward MaKhiya McDonald in the middle of the penalty box. McDonald took a first-touch shot that flew to the right of Denver goalkeeper Molly Wissman, out of her reach.
A&M pulled the game back even at two on a counter attack where Kennedy Clark intercepted a loose back pass and fed Allison Lowrey in the box. She curled it just inside the left post.
“We saw we were able to create a lot of chances, but we weren’t able to finish them,” Lowrey said. “That’s going to be one of our main points in practices. We got a lot of shots off, but they weren’t on target and they didn’t go in the net and you’re not going to win games if we don’t put the ball in the net.”
What was a key moment? Everything seemed to change after the first hydration break of the game, approximately 20 minutes following the first kick. A&M maintained a majority of the possession throughout that spell, but a quick drink of water in sizzling summer conditions invigorated the Pioneers. The Aggies were on their heels for most of the remainder of the half.
After Denver took the lead early in the second, the Pioneers pulled ten players behind the ball and made it difficult for A&M to mount an attack.
What comes next? The Aggies welcome Fairfield to Ellis Field on Saturday at 8 p.m. as a part of Fish Camp night.
“I think we’re going to be a completely different team out there,” Lowrey said. “We’re going to come out hard. We’re going to come out hungry. We’re going to fix our mistakes and I’m very excited to see how this team returns from this game.”
Copyright 2024 KBTX. All rights reserved.