Ole Miss shuts out A&M as Aggies drop fourth consecutive home match
Ole Miss defeated Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon, 2-0, as the Aggies dropped their fourth consecutive match at Ellis Field. The Rebels scored two unanswered second-half goals to run away with the victory.
Though another frustrating loss for the Aggies, A&M head coach G Guerrieri was able to take some positive outlooks from the team’s hard-fought performance.
“We have to learn from our experiences. We can learn from what our opponents have been able to do to come in here and steal wins,” said Guerrieri. “We’ve got to be able to play with the same type of enthusiasm as we did when we were chasing the game in the last 17 minutes. The fight of our players was fantastic, and we got to be able to do that for 90 minutes.”
Returning home after a 4-0 win over LSU with a healed attack for the first time in weeks, the Aggies had hoped to pick up right where they left off in Baton Rouge.
“We’ve had some injuries. We’ve had some people out with COVID, so it's been a little inconsistent on who’s playing at what time,” said sophomore Lauren Geczik. “But I feel like as we get stronger and everyone's playing together. It will just keep getting better and better.”
The Aggies looked sluggish offensively in the opening minutes of the match as ball distribution lacked. The Rebels were able to take advantage and make a number of advances inside the Aggies’ box but were quickly locked down by defenders Geczik and Macie Kolb.
Katie Smith and Barbara Olivieri were unable to break the ice halfway through the first period as both of their chance attempts sailed straight onto the woodwork and deflected back.
The crossbar saved yet again another goal for Ole Miss as freshman Makhiya McDonald was close to notching one home from deep.
“I’m frustrated for our players. They played hard. They created some good chances,” said Guerrieri. “Their goalkeeper made two brilliant saves. The woodwork made two other brilliant saves. You got to commend Ole Miss for their ability to score on their only two shots.”
“It's frustrating for us when we knew we had opportunities to win this game and we didn’t.”
Just minutes into the second half, Ole Miss took advantage of an unset Aggie defense and slid a goal past A&M goalie Kenna Caldwell to take a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute.
Both teams engaged in a focused and gritty match as the match remained silent throughout most of the second half.
The Aggies were in position to create an opportunity multiple times but failed to spark any momentum past a couple of unconverted high-flying shots.
Any chance for an A&M comeback was iced in the 84th-minute as Ole Miss’ Channing Foster found her second goal of the match.
“I just feel like it’s a little frustrating, they took two shots on goal and they got two goals,” said Geczik. “We had 16 shots and we couldn’t convert today. They finished their chances and we didn’t.”
Today’s loss moves the Aggies to 6-7-1 on the season and 2-4-0 in SEC play.
Next up for the Aggies is a Friday night showdown as Alabama will make its way into town for Senior Night at Ellis Field.