A&M outlasted by No. 6 Florida State in season opener, 2-1

In Thursday night’s season opener at Ellis Field, Texas A&M fell to No. 6 Florida State in the final four minutes of the match, 2-1.

“It’s really unfortunate with the last four minutes that we were able to just slip and give them that extra time and space to capitalize on us,” A&M midfielder Mia Pante said.

After tackling the ball away from an FSU player, Maile Hayes sent the ball up to MaKhiya McDonald as she nearly broke away in the sixth minute. 

Seminoles forward Beata Olsson opened the scoring with a shot just over Kenna Caldwell’s reach in the 24th minute. 

A&M sat back a majority of the first period, letting FSU regain possession and pass around within their half.

“I thought that our game plan was pretty good, and that we were able to dominate spaces that we thought we could control,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said.

In the 40th minute, Sammy Smith headed an equalizer into the lower-right corner of Cristina Roque’s goal. McDonald earned the assist with a beautifully dropped ball into the Seminoles’ box.

“It was a perfect ball,” Smith said. “It couldn’t have been better. I saw her running up the sideline and no one can keep up with her but I tried my best.”

The Seminoles ultimately pulled ahead of the Aggies with a goal by Taylor Huff as Caldwell came too far off her line in the 86th minute.

A&M will play at Ellis Field again on Sunday against Washington State at 6 p.m. CT.

“All in all, I’m really proud of our players,” Guerrieri said. “I thought our players played hard, thought that our young players stepped in and were super.”