Soccer: A&M maintains first place in SEC with 2-1 win over Ole Miss

Losing on senior night just feels wrong.

Thankfully with the help of a couple juniors, the A&M soccer team avoided that disappointment.

On Friday night, behind a pair of goals from juniors Bianca Brinson and Shea Groom, the Aggies defeated the No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels by a score of 2-1 at Ellis Field. With the victory, A&M improves to 13-3-1 on the year and 8-1-0 in SEC play, while Ole Miss falls to 12-4-2 overall and 5-3-1 in conference matches.

More importantly, the Aggies maintain their three point lead on the rest of the conference as the season enters its final week.

“I’m really proud of the players because that was a gutsy performance,” said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. “Ole Miss is probably on the best season they have ever had and they have a lot of quality players out there."

After 30 minutes of scoreless play, the Rebels broke the tie with a goal off the left foot of forward Olivia Harrison. Ole Miss midfielder Mandy McCalla crossed the ball across the box which A&M goalie Jordan Day attempted to save with a dive. After Day was unsuccessful, McCalla was waiting unmarked near the back post for the easy finish and the 1-0 lead.

“The question I had was whether [Harrison] was onside,” stated Guerrieri. “The linesman said she was onside, so she was onside.”

The Aggies held an 8-6 shots advantage after the first half, but it wasn’t until the second period when they finally broke through.

With just over 23 minutes left to play, Brinson used her speed to break away down the right sideline, whizzing past multiple Ole Miss defenders in the process. Once in the box, Brinson shot a rocket from about eight yards out that found the back of the net past the diving Rebels goalie.

For Brinson it was her third goal of the season, all of which have come in conference play.

“Some of [Brinson’s] biggest improvement is with the decisions she is making,” Guerrieri said of his forward. “She’s making good decisions of when to take people on and when not to do it.”

As time began to wane on the match, the Aggies had multiple chances to take the lead on flurries of shots directly in front of the goal. However, it wasn’t until a handball call inside the box with 4:57 remaining that gave A&M a penalty kick and their best chance to break the tie.

Without hesitation, Groom stepped up to the ball, took a second to collect herself and then put the game-winning shot past the keeper. The score was Groom’s 11th of the season and sixth in SEC play.

“We have a whole group of great penalty takers, so I let the players choose [who takes the kick],” said Guerrieri. “Penalty kicks are a lot like free throws. It’s just confidence. My rule is whoever knows they’re going to score needs to step up and go score.”

Although the Rebels were a tough opponent, the road only gets harder for A&M.

On Sunday, the Aggies travel to Gainesville to take on the No. 7 Florida Gators in what is shaping up to be a possible conference-deciding match. With a victory, A&M would all but lock-up the crown, but a loss would send them into a tie with the Gators with just one game remaining.

“In college soccer, championships are won on Sundays,” concluded Guerrieri. “Florida is a super team and I admire their coaches. It’s going to be a great game. It’s a big challenge, but we look forward to playing against them.”

That game can be seen nationally on ESPNU at 2 PM Sunday afternoon.