Texas A&M uses late goal, sixth shutout of the season, to down Rice
Texas A&M soccer snapped its four-game losing streak after prevailing over Rice on Sunday night at Ellis Field, 1-0.
A slow paced contest ensued throughout the first half as neither team scored a goal.
Battling with determination, the Aggies outshot the Owls 18-8 but struggled to convert their attempts into points.
“This is one of those games that could have been really frustrating because we had so many chances and we had so much of the ball,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “Gotta give Rice a lot of credit, Rice was very organized and a really well-coached team.”
In the ninth minute, sophomore defender Mia Pante’s shot-on-goal was saved by Rice goalkeeper Bella Killgore. A few minutes later, Rice attempted to strike first but A&M goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell picked up the save.
Overall, Caldwell recorded two saves in her fourth shutout of the season.
Senior forward Jai Smith tried to bring a spark for A&M with two shot attempts in the 35th and 40th minutes, but one flew out left and the other was saved by Killgore.
After Macy Matula drew a foul, junior midfielder Kate Colvin finally broke the seal at the 76-minute mark on a free kick from 35 yards out. Behind MaKhiya McDonald (5), Colvin is second on the team with four goals this season.
“So much excitement and relief, we’ve been practicing that exact free kick in practice,” Colvin said. “That is why I pointed at coach G because he is the one that has been setting it up.”
“I was pleased with Kate to get the goal and our players, to get a shutout win to get us back in the win column is awesome,” Guerrieri said. “We just have to keep working on the fundamentals of finishing, of timing and what we want to do.
“I thought our commitment by our players in the second half to get more numbers into the box was really great.”
Although the Aggies struggled to convert shot attempts, the team had no trouble dismantaling Rice offensively for their sixth shutout of the year as the Owls were held to just two shots-on-goal.
“We are doing a great job of having shutouts like tonight and not letting goals in,” sophomore midfielder Quinn Cornog said. “It is great that we are a young team because we have so much talent and we are just going to keep growing.”
Texas A&M resumes SEC play against LSU on Thursday evening. Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
“The energy and intensity of the team was outstanding, we just have to polish up the quality a little bit and that comes with experience,” Guerrieri said. “Now let's take this home winning streak and keep it going Thursday with a really good LSU team coming in.”