Soccer: Aggies blank Gamecocks, 2-0

Game recap

COLLEGE STATION — Sometimes, change is hard. But in the case of the Texas A&M soccer team, change has been anything but.

On a warm Friday night at Ellis Field, the 10th ranked Aggies notched a 2-0 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks. With the victory, A&M moves to 9-1-0 on the year and 3-0-0 in SEC play, while the defending SEC Champion Gamecocks fall to 3-4-2 overall and 0-2-1 in conference.

A&M started hot right out of the chute, beating the Gamecocks to virtually every ball through the first five minutes of play. That Aggie aggression culminated in a Jayne Eadie corner kick in the 6th minute which resulted in an open look for Aggie forward Meghan Streight. Streight fired a shot that ricocheted off of South Carolina goalie Sabrina D'Angelo right back to her. Streight fired once again, but was unsuccessful.

"I thought our first five minutes were really good," said A&M Head Coach G. Guerrieri. "Then, they kind of got their legs under us and got our legs out from under us. It got a little chippy there for a while until we scored the goal."

In the 25th minute, Eadie perfectly placed another corner kick on the opposite side of the scrum that allowed Streight to redirect the ball into the back of the net with her head. The goal gave the Aggies the 1-0 lead and they never looked back.

During the 32nd minute of play, South Carolina's Christa Neary was given a yellow card for being too physical on the field. Nine minutes later, Neary was given another yellow and thrown out of the game for the same offense, leaving the Gamecocks a man down for the remainder of the game.

After the half, A&M showed why the national polls consider them a top-10 team by dominating South Carolina for the final 45 minutes of play.

"We talked at halftime about how we seemed a little bit frantic towards the latter half of the first period," said Guerrieri. "We wanted to play with a lot more poise and confidence on the ball, and I thought that in the second half it was pretty much on lockdown. We were able to keep them at bay because we had the ball and were able to open the game up and spread it out."

The Aggies once again found their way onto the scoreboard in the 64th minute when midfielder Chelsea Jones crossed the ball to forward Annie Kunz who used her head to put the ball past D'Angelo, making the score 2-0 in favor of the Maroon and White. The goal was the seventh of the season for Kunz while Jones tallied her second assist of the year.

Up next for the Aggies is defending SEC Tournament champion Auburn (4-5-0, 0-2-0) from Ellis Field at 1:30 on Sunday afternoon.

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Post-game notes

* Goalkeeper Jordan Day recorded her 6th consecutive shutout and has now gone 606 minutes without being scored on.

* The Aggies out shot the Gamecocks by a total of 17-6 on the night.

* A&M currently sits alone at the top of the SEC West with nine points.

* Fans with a ticket from Saturday's football game can purchase a $3 general admission ticket to Sunday's match versus Auburn.