Another disappointing road result

Disappointing result for sure. So many missed opportunities.

Jordan Hill was a brick wall in OT

Definitely a better game than Arkansas, and we certainly had several opportunities to win when we were playing well, but can't go on the road and be on cruise control for a whole half.

That was tough to watch. We continually attempted to serve the ball in with a 40 yd pass from midfield to the edge of the box only to lose the ball. We tried it time and time again even when we had plenty of room to carry the ball forward. We have more quality and just needed to possess and make the simple passes to move it forward. Did not make any in game adjustments. Even with all of that we had opportunities. Just tough all around.

Disappointing draw. Their keeper made some great saves. Feel bad for Addie because she has been so good this year. Thought Emily looked really good in the second half and OT. The team needs to understand they can't take a half off and win a championship. Didn't think we'd be in fifth place after 4 games. Thought their goal came after a bogus foul call.

Tough result for A&M. So many missed opportunities. PK that didn't even come close to the goal, Watt misses a 1v1 and then another in 2OT that was bad luck off the post. Then a truly incredible save by Ole Miss' GK on a last second shot by Lopez. I have no idea how she reacted that fast to make the save, especially at the collegiate level. But for A&M the game got away early in the first 30 minutes when they came out flat (yet again on the road) and allowed Ole Miss to dictate the pace and their style, losing almost every 50/50 ball and just looking complacent. A&M simply could not complete simple passes and gain any real momentum early. Too many long passes forward to no one as usual. A&M has to be more physical early in matches because every coach in the SEC knows how to beat us; be more physical and kick us and we back down and lose our ability to play our style. Yes, the Ole Miss goal came off a truly horrible call by the referee on a free kick where Alston didn't seem interested in marking her man, but it was a just result considering the lackluster play. A&M did take control of the game at the end of the first half and it carried over the 2nd half, dominating possession and creating a lot of chances on goal, but in the end the result was a 1-1 draw that could cost A&M the SEC title (especially with South Carolina on the road to finish the season).

The highlight of the night was the sudden return to form of Emily Bates in the 2nd half. She was everywhere and finally started playing like the Bates of old, running at the defense and forcing them to come out and challenge, thereby opening up space for Watt to run onto. But she also made some very savvy runs in OT and created her own shots, something we may have to do more of because we are not finding success slotting the ball forward. Hopefully she can continue this type of play. Piper went down with injury late in the game, so Kolb had to play a lot of minutes. I really don't understand why Hajdu didn't get any minutes during that stretch. Kolb just seems too slow and inexperienced at this stage of her development. Asdis gave her usual effort and gained a lot of possession, but right now the passes forward are not very effective. McCain seemed a bit off tonight and then missed a PK badly for the first time I can ever remember. That was just ugly. In collegiate soccer, you only have to hit the ball about 2 yards left or right of center and it will score about 90% of the time so the last thing you want to do is to push it wide. Arrieta gave us some really good minutes tonight and hustled to win 50/50 balls. The midfield played pretty well in the 2nd half overall, but they have to come out and take control of the game earlier.

Ritchie has arguably been A&M's MVP this season but she really struggled tonight with her touch. I counted at least 4 set pieces that was just miserable efforts, slicing the shots wide left every time. The coaches need to recognize that early in the match and have someone else take shots. Also, why is Watt taking free kicks from 20 yards out when you have Lopez, Asdis, and McCain who can place shots on goal at a much higher rate? And A&M continues to waste corner kicks by kicking behind the goal. I think the coaches are instructing them to place the ball near the goal line instead of the 6 yard mark, but we have to do better than that. The backline really struggled early, especially Hill, who continues to ball watch too much and allow opponents to get open behind her. She did recover and play well in the 2nd half and OT especially, stopping a couple of dangerous attacks. We need more consistency from all 3 when we play on the road though.

Watt has flashes of brilliance and did a nice job of finishing off a mistake by Ole Miss for A&M's only goal, but she absolutely has the start finishing chances on goal that are why she plays forward in the first place. When Watt is 1v1 with the GK at a slight angle, all she needs to do is just touch it past the GK to the side and then simply run onto it with her blazing speed to tap it in because no player in America is going to beat her to the ball. She has a bad habit of just kicking the ball straight ahead without any strategic finishing. The good news is that Smith played much better tonight with several good touches and plays that could have scored, especially the one in front of goal late in the 2nd half; she made a hard shot but it was deflected away. I still believe that Cooper is being wasted on the sideline and she needs more minutes because she can control the ball and has an accurate shot.

A&M is going to have to find a way to win on the road if they want to earn a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. We are 1-1-1 in our last three games and that isn't good enough for the talent on this roster as evidenced by the play earlier in the season. Coach G made a bold prediction on his radio show a few nights ago that A&M would win the SEC this season. Now it's time to back it up with better play on the road. Thankfully, A&M hosts Auburn, Mississippi St, and Tennessee at home where we are probably one of the best 2-3 teams in the nation on our own turf. Also, I think the SEC champion will probably have at least 2 losses and a tie because of the parity this season, but A&M has very little margin for error now. Finally, the announcers tonight were embarrassing and didn't know there was an overtime, constantly called us Texas (yes dummy with an accent there is another major university in the state of Texas), and thought Ole Miss didn't deserve to lose after being dominated for over half the game and outshot something like 30-10.

It appears to me that we take a while, usually a half, to figure out how to play when the other team is really physical. I guess I don't want a foul called at every little contact, but some of the non-calls, particularly early, were really pretty brutal, from my perspective.

The Ole Miss goal was a well run play - give credit where it is due. The call that led to it was bull. That kick should have gone the other way.

In spite of everything in the first half, that was a really tough result.