Aggies conclude exhibition slate with 4-0 beatdown of Texas State

The Friday evening sun glared down on Ellis Field as Texas A&M defeated Texas State 4-0 in the Aggies’ final exhibition match before the regular season begins next week.

“We had some flashes of really great moments, but still some things to work on,” Andersen Williams said. “It was good overall, but keep working.”

Through the opening six minutes, A&M soccer registered two shots on Texas State’s goal as midfielder Carissa Boeckmann and forward Makhiya McDonald accounted for the shots.

Less than two minutes later, forward Jazmine Wilkinson found herself one-on-one with goalkeeper Caitlyn Draper and slotted the ball into the netting. McDonald and defender Carolyn Calzada are credited with the assist.

Forward Sammy Smith tallied A&M’s fifth shot of the game in the 20th minute when she entered the match in the 17th.

The first corner kick on the pitch belonged to the Bobcats and was taken by Lucy Hart, a service that found Mya Ulloa for Texas State’s first shot of the evening.

A scramble within A&M keeper Kenna Caldwell’s box ended in an offsides call against the Bobcats, but the pause in play occurred moments after Caldwell saved a shot by Texas State defender Kennley Bradley.

In the 34th minute, Smith’s blocked shot turned into an assist as the ball dropped right at WIlliams’ feet. Williams shot the deflected ball right into the nearly open goal to double the Aggies’ lead, 2-0.

McDonald made it 3-0 in the second half when she slotted the ball into the lower left corner of Lucia Arcos’ goal. The 77th-minute marker came on McDonald’s third shot of the game.

“Being able to score off a transition, so I was able to dummy the ball and then get it to [Wilkinson], and we were able to start off the game 1-0,” McDonald said. “And then in the second half, I was also able to get one in the back of the net and help my team go up 3-0.”

Smith added a fourth goal to the scoreboard in the 83rd minute. Her powerful and net-stretching goal ripped into the left side of Texas State’s goal as Margo Matula and Sydney Becerra picked up assists.

“A really good goal by Sammy Smith set up by just a brilliant, brilliant pass by Sydney Becerra,” head coach G Guerrieri said.

Next up for the Aggies is a the regular-season opener with No. 6 Florida State on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. CT.

“There were a lot of things that I think that we did better than we did in the first game, but there were some things that we still have got to do a lot better before we see Florida State,” Guerrieri said.