Aggie soccer seizes late opportunities against FAU in 2-0 victory

Conventional wisdom will tell you that domination on the stat sheet should reflect on the scoreboard.

In Aggie soccer’s 2-0 win over Florida Atlantic, it appeared, for much of the night, like the Owls may throw wisdom to the wind.

Before Emily Bates second half goal, the Aggies held nearly a 20 shot advantage, with healthy leads in corner kicks and shots on goal to boot. But halfway through the closing period, it was anybody’s game.

That changed in the 67th minute when Karlie Mueller’s free kick was deflected, setting in motion a series of fortunate events for A&M. First, Ally Watt took the deflection and launched a high, soft shot off the crossbar. FAU attempted to clear it, but Emily Bates was there and pounded one into the right side.

The goal gave A&M a 1-0 lead, and was as hard earned as they come according to head coach G. Guerrieri.

“They came in with a good plan. There were a lot of things that we could have pointed to as excuses, but the bottom line is, I’m proud of our team for finding a way to get the win,”

He continued to discuss the adversity A&M faced in the early goings Sunday night,

“Being tied 0-0 at the half, we were a little frustrated, but we didn't sit around a feel sorry for ourselves. That was a great goal by Emily Bates for the game winner.”

With missed opportunities in the first sixty minutes adding up, Bates finally broke down the wall. Mikaela Harvey wasted little time following her lead.

From 22 yards out, Harvey took a pass from Janae Cousineau, worked against a sole defender and hammered one into the crossbar. When it kicked straight down and into the net, the Aggies had a 2-0 lead and some distance on the opposing owls.

“Getting that (second goal) was a relief.” Emily Bates said when asked about the comfort Harvey’s score gave the team. “That goal gave us some cushion, so that if anything flukey happened, we would still be okay.”

Nothing happened of course, as the Aggies claimed their third straight shut out and moved to 4-0 on the year. Now, waiting in the wings, a trip to Tallahassee on Friday.

“It is definitely nerve-racking, going into the defending national champion’s house.”

As a freshman, Emily Bates is excited for her first big game opportunity against Florida State. She also likes her teams attitude heading into the matchup.

“Florida beat them today, so there’s no reason why we can’t. We are (absolutely) playing well. As well as we can be four games into the season.”

Her coach is optimistic as well, but knows it will take maximum effort.

“We’re going to have to be at our best. FSU lost to the Gators, so it’s like they poked them and now we’re about to walk into the snake pit,” Said Guerrieri.

“But, we respect Florida State and we’ll put together our best effort.”