The A&M soccer team kicked off the spring season with a win over Lamar, defeating the Cardinals 3-1 thanks to goals from Addie McCain, Abby Grace Cooper, and Jimena Lopez.
The Aggies faced a bit of an early scare as a Lamar forward netted a beautiful volley on the Cardinals’ first shot of the game in the 22nd minute. The Aggies then quickly roared back netting three goals in a span of four minutes.
“I thought that when we got it clicking it looked really good — our possession and speed of play was really, really good,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “Overall it was a really strong performance.”
Lopez was the first to get the Maroon and White on the board as she slotted a penalty kick just out of the reach of the Lamar keeper. Just two minutes later, Lopez crossed a beautiful ball onto the foot of Abby Grace Cooper who volleyed into past the keeper. McCain then added one of her own with a strike from the top of the 18-yard box to cap off the night.
Lopez was a standout player on the night tallying an assist and a goal. The sophomore — who played left midfield for both of her first two seasons — played the entire game at left defender.
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Lopez was a standout player on the night tallying an assist and a goal. The sophomore — who played left midfield for both of her first two seasons — played the entire game at left defender, replacing the recently graduated Kendall Ritchie. Guerrieri said that putting Lopez on the back line is a more natural fit as that’s where she plays for the Mexican National team.
“That’s more of her position is on the back line,” Guerrieri said. “We have just had her playing left midfield for the last two seasons so that we could get her on the field.”
Several Aggies — including starters from the fall Ally Watt and Asdis Halldorsdottir — were held out of the match due to injuries. This created an opportunity to get some less experienced players some playing time.
Among those new faces was Ali Russell — who enrolled in January and will play her freshman season in the fall. The forward made her presence known and caught the eye of Guerrieri.
“You talk about Ali Russell and her work rate, that’s someone that is going to be a crowd favorite for the next four years,” Guerrieri said. “I’m really happy we were able to get our freshmen in and getting college experience.”
The Aggies will return to action against Baylor next Friday at 7:30 p.m. from Ellis Field.