No. 9 Pepperdine edges out Texas A&M in hard-fought battle at Ellis Field, 1-0
No. 9 Pepperdine defeats Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon, 1-0, marking the Aggies’ first loss at home since October 2019.
Dropping a 14-game home winning streak, the Aggies came into the match after a two-match road trip where they split the series with Oklahoma State 1-1 and opened up SEC play with a 3-0 shutout against Kentucky.
Marking the end of non-conference action, A&M has proven to be dominant on both ends of the field alongside the impressive feat of 12 different Aggies finding the back of the net so far this season.
Wasting no time, the Waves caught the Aggies off-guard and got on the scoreboard first to take a 1-0 lead at the three-minute mark.
Both teams split possession pretty evenly with no side taking full command.
Aggie goalie Kenna Caldwell swatted an early strike from the Waves in the 14th minute to save A&M from falling behind a second score. Caldwell would end the first period with three saves.
Freshman forward and Aggie goal leader Maile Hayes led multiple drives to the box but failed to capitalize off any momentum.
Scrambling to contain the Aggies’ string of passes toward the goal, a frustrated Pepperdine defense picked up their second yellow card in the first period.
The Aggies heightened their defensive pressure and were able to contain Pepperdine’s fast-paced offense heading into the half. The Waves outshot the Aggies 7-4 in the first period, a rare occurrence for A&M who usually holds a double-digit lead in shots by this point in the match.
Out the gate for the second half, Pepperdine collected two quick fouls in an attempt to slow the Aggies down. The match remained tied as both squads found themselves in a rugged battle trying to light an offensive spark.
Through the waning minutes of the game, the Aggies continued to struggle to get past midfield and only found six shots in the second half, ending the game with a low 10.
Senior Kendall Bates offered some insight about the team re-sparking their offensive energy moving forward.
“I think offensively we forget that we were held to the lowest and we gotta just kinda push it out of the way and look to restart,” said Bates. “Just going forward into practice this week, be really intentional about how we’re combining up top, how we're keeping the ball up top and just be fearless when taking shots and in that final third making it count.”
Forward Carissa Boeckmann almost fired one home in the 79th minute after deflecting a shot off the top crossbar in what almost was an Aggie equalizer.
With the start of conference play on the horizon, A&M head coach G Guerrieri discussed what the future holds for the team and expectations for the upcoming Arkansas match.
“This is a big one, to play these guys as early as we are is monumental,” said Coach G. “You got the two co-champions here playing against each other. Arkansas has beaten us the last couple of times we’ve played. It’s always a challenge to play against those guys because they are so different from us and us being able to prepare for them in the next couple of days is really important.”
The Aggies’ loss this afternoon now puts the Waves ahead in the all-time series with a now 2-1-1 advantage. A&M now falls to 5-3-1 on the season.
A&M is set to be back in action at Ellis Field this Thursday at 6 p.m. as they host Arkansas.