Aggie Soccer team remains positive despite 1-0 loss to #15 UCLA

With nearly 6,000 Aggies in the stands, Fish Camp Night at Ellis Field brought the life Texas A&M needed to put up a strong fight against the UCLA Bruins. The 11th ranked Aggies dropped a tight one to the #15 Bruins, but the crowd was certainly the loudest and proudest of the young season.

In spite of the loss, both the team and Guerrieri were happy to induct the Aggie class of 2020 into the 12th Man for their first sporting event as new Aggies.

"It was just a brilliant crowd," Coach G Guerrieri said. "To see the class of 2020 out here in force makes for an atmosphere that is unmatched anywhere. The crowd was into it the whole time. The energy was fantastic off of them. We need it to be able to go toe-to-toe with such a talented team like UCLA."

With the energetic crowd in the stands, both teams played their hardest, taking shots at every opportunity. With time dwindling and more than ten shots on goal from both teams, the game remained scoreless and seemed destined to result in a tie.

After 82 minutes of remarkable defense from the Aggies, UCLA's Anika Rodriguez broke away through the Texas A&M defenders and found an opening. Rodriguez made a lightening-quick pass to Chloe Casteneda, who then ripped a shot from 25 yards out, sinking the ball into the back of the net.

As it turns out, with only seven minutes left in the game, the goal from Casteneda would be all UCLA needed to clench the victory.

"I thought it was a fantastic game," Coach G Guerrieri said. "(UCLA) finished their best chance and we didn't finish ours."

Despite being unable to respond to UCLA's goal late in the game, Guerrieri remains positive about Friday night's performance and the remainder of the season.

"I thought there were a lot of positives," Guerrieri said. "These were two fantastic teams who really went out and played a tough game nose to nose.  

"It's not a situation where we really are doing much wrong, we just have to polish the diamond a little bit and get ready for Sunday."

Texas A&M Goal Keeper Danielle Rice made certain to note the incredible performance from her teammates regardless of the outcome of the game.

"I thought they did great," Rice said. "The whole entire game, I thought they were on fire.

"The shot was just unlucky."

The loss to UCLA Friday night brought Texas A&M's current season record to 1-2-0. The Aggies will take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes at Ellis Field Sunday night at 6pm.