Texas A&M dominates in home shutout over Texas State, 3-0

The ‘she’s a freshman’ chant, arguably, never gets old.

No. 23 Texas A&M soccer played its third game of the spring slate and defeated Texas State, offering an impressive display of young talent. The victory was highlighted by goals scored by freshmen midfielder Taylor Pounds and forward Barbara Olivieri.

Pounds’ goal was her first at Ellis Field, and the Spring native said scoring her first career goal on the pitch where she grew up watching soccer was a profound experience.

“I feel like I’ve just grown up coming to games [at Ellis Field],” Pounds said. “It’s such a cool atmosphere, and for that goal to finally happen for me, it was just a really surreal experience.”

Shot from inside the box, the goal was scored with 25:01 remaining in the first half. It was assisted by senior midfielder Taylor Ziemer and junior defender Macie Kolb.

On the Bobcats’ side of the field, more young talent was on display.

Texas State goalkeeper Beth Agee is third in the nation in saves and saved all five of the shots the Aggies had taken by the 17th minute.

“The goalkeeper made some super saves,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “They made it difficult for us. We had to score three really difficult goals.”

Angelina Alcantar, TexAgs

The Aggies will now square off against No. 4 TCU in the final game of the regular season at Ellis Field. 

Olivieri was another young player who quickly established her presence at Ellis Field. She contributed her fifth goal of the season during the 60th minute with an assist from Pounds.

Guerrieri said part of the reason his younger players are thriving is that they are given an equal shot at playing time.

“If you’re on our team, we’re going to treat everyone the same way that we treat the seniors,” Guerrieri said. “Even though we only have one senior on this roster right now, we try to treat everyone exactly the same way.”

A quick look at time of possession shows that the Aggies established and held down their momentum throughout the match.

A&M had possession of the ball for 73 percent of the game.

It wasn’t all youth movement, however, as a veteran player also added a goal. With just over four minutes remaining, redshirt sophomore midfielder Kendall Bates scored a goal that was assisted by sophomore defender Katie Smith.

Olivieri said the younger players are learning from the example of their more experienced teammates.

“That’s awesome that we have young players making a big impact in the game,” Olivieri said. “That’s obviously coming from the experience and seeing how the older players play and we learn a lot from them. It’s great, it shows that, hopefully, we’re going to be as good as the seniors this year.”

Texas A&M has one final match before the NCAA Tournament, hosting No. 4 TCU on Saturday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m.