It was a frustrating night to close out the A&M home soccer season. Once again, A&M had the run of play and better chances on goal, dominating possession in the South Carolina defensive third for long stretches of the match. Unfortunately we just could not find the back of the net after hitting the crossbar twice, missing multiple shots within 18 yards of goal, a ball cleared off the goal line, and the Gamecocks GK Hinz making 3-4 spectacular diving saves, including the save of the year on a late header by Maile Hayes that probably scores about 98% of the time. We outshot SC 25-9, including a 16-4 edge in the second half. This team just seems to have very bad luck and it's been a constant all season long. And of course SC's goal comes off a fluke goal late in the first half off a corner, where the ball dribbled down off the back of a SC player and past Caldwell. The very unjust 1-0 loss has put this team on the brink with only 2 road matches left.
Outside of the disastrous Vandy game, this team has been capable all season and should have won several matches that we lost or tied. I don't understand why it's taken so long for the coaches to settle on a consistent lineup. It's been disruptive and difficult to develop chemistry on the field. At the end of tonight's game, the group of Hayes, Pante, Boeckmann, and Becerra found a rhythm and found multiple creases, crosses, and shots that should have produced a goal. I'm not sure what's going on with Hayes, but it's near negligence to have her standing on the sideline for 30 minutes to start the second half. Unless she's nursing an injury, it's unacceptable to have one of your best options out for long stretches of the match. She made an immediate impact on the rest of the group when she finally entered the game. Mia had a great game, making multiple runs and out-efforting her defenders all night. And Becerra is finally emerging as a sophomore and showing the talent that made her such an elite prospect. She is seeing the field well and anticipates passes much faster now, making several more perfect touch passes forward to set up scoring chances. It's great to see as she will be the anchor of the midfield going forward.
The backline was solid as Armenta and Calzada took turns denying chances on the edge by SC forwards, and Caldwell made a couple of key saves to keep us in the game. And the Matulas were very good all night as well. This group deserved the shutout for sure.
So, A&M's RPI is 52 and Tennessee (21) and LSU (40) are opportunities for Top 40 road wins or ties. At this point I think we will need to at least win one match and tie one match to have any chance at an at large bid. And we will need to win at least one game in the SEC tourney as well. Unfortunately, I think we are probably the underdog in both matches and 2 losses would result in our second losing season in three years, something that was once unthinkable at A&M. The good news is that we are playing our best soccer of the season right now and I think we've found the right combination as outlined above to create the most possible chances on goal. I don't know where Coach G stands with Bjork right now, but you have to think this next week will be one of the most important in the Coach G era.
