No. 25 Aggies attack often in Beaumont beatdown of Lamar, 5-0

Press conference video courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.

Regular-season opener: Check.

On Thursday night, No. 25 Texas A&M dominated Lamar in its first match of the 2024 season, claiming a 5-0 shutout on the road.

However, this wasn't a "regular" season opener for the Aggies.

The Maroon & White faced the Cardinals in Beaumont in the teams' first matchup since the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, which A&M won 1-0. Thursday was also the first time the Aggies faced Lamar head coach Nathan Kogut, who served as an assistant at A&M from 2018-2022.

It also marked A&M’s first trip to face a Southland Conference team.

"This is a great way to get the season started, 5-0 on the road against the back-to-back champions of their conference and a team that was top 50 for most of the year last year," A&M head coach G Guerrieri said postgame. "Nathan and his crew had them organized. They have some great players on the team."

Will Schneringer, TexAgs

The win represents G Guerrieri’s 495th career victory as the head coach at Texas A&M.

A&M started strong in the first half, forcing Lamar to put up its first foul of the night just 57 seconds into the match.

From there, the Aggies took control.

A&M managed four shot attempts before sophomore midfielder Grace Ivey punched a powerful shot into the bottom center of Lamar freshman goalkeeper Taylor Howard's goal in the 13th minute.

Two minutes later, Sydney Becerra quickly followed that up with another goal as A&M quickly took a 2-0 lead.

Later in the first half, the game picked up its pace and shifted after substitutions from both teams.

However, Lamar's defensive efforts could not prevent Becerra from landing a brace as the Flower Mound native pushed A&M’s advantage to 3-0 in the 36th.

"Our team is very deep this season," Becerra said. "We sub, and we keep the same intensity, keep the same everything. It's great to have different people come in, and it doesn't decrease [our intensity] at all."

Entering the second half with a three-goal lead, the Aggies refused to let off the gas, and freshman goalkeeper Maysen Veronda continued blocking attacks from Lamar as the offense heated up.

Veronda earned the clean sheet in her A&M debut, making three saves on the night.

A mere 11 minutes into the second half, Ivey notched her second goal of the evening off an assist from Becerra.

In the 79th minute, freshman midfielder Kat Campbell scored her first collegiate goal, boosting the Aggies' lead to 5-0.

In total, the Maroon & White put up a total of 25 shots, five goals, six assists, six corners and six fouls. Lamar mustered just six shot attempts to go along with 13 fouls and a yellow card.

"More than anything, it's a team that's a year older, a year wiser. They're a tight team off the field and on," Guererri said. "It's a great way to start, a lot better way to start than last year and a lot of lessons learned from last year that were getting put into play."

The Aggies return to action next Wednesday for their home opener at 7 p.m. CT against Denver at Ellis Field.