Texas A&M soccer blanked by Vanderbilt at Ellis Field, 2-0
Attendance hit 2,365 as a surge of fans, brought to Aggieland for Ring Week, entered Ellis.
In an untimely loss, Texas A&M (8-6, 3-3) fell to Vanderbilt (6-2-5, 1-2-3) on Thursday night, 2-0.
The loss marks the end of a five-game home win streak against the Commodores and their first conference win of the season.
“We were really unlucky in front of the goal and that's just going to happen sometimes,” captain Carolyn Calzada said. “We just have to eliminate those opportunities that they had and just continue working in practice to find different ways to get the ball into the back of the net. We had a lot of really really good chances.
“I'm proud of our midfield and forwards. I think we played well. I think it's just keeping our head up going on to the next game looking at the good from this game and just improving from it.”
Grace McClellan was in goal for the first time since her shutout against CCSU in September. McClellan faced the Commodores’ in last year's 6-0 Aggie loss.
According to Guerrieri, Sydney Fuller was out due to injury. He noted that it will be a day-to-day process, but she will likely be ready to return to goal against Alabama.
“(McClellan) found out late that she was going to get the start, she stepped in and performed really admirably,” head coach G Guerrieri said. “I thought that she was good with her distribution and did well in leading. Those are two tough goals against two well-taken headers on the corner kick and the cross.”
The Commodores took the kickoff and early possession. In response, the Ags stuttered in maintaining possession between passes.
Vanderbilt took the first attempt of the night in the third minute, with McClellan saving a shot from Courtney Jones.
The Aggies took six shots in the first half, yet only Sydney Becerra’s 13th-minute shot was on target. Her attempt was grazingly saved by Sara Wojdelko and sent to the woodwork.
In the 26th minute, the Commodores took the lead with a goal by Addie Porter. An assist by Maci Teater placed Porter close at goal, easily rounding the Aggie defense.
“Once they were able to get the lead, then they were able to kind of slowly take the air out of the game, which can be frustrating.” coach Guerrieri said. “But at the same time with us, our players know that it's a 90-minute match, and if we can kind of allow them to do that, it allows us to know that they're going to come out a little bit, they're going to open up space behind. That's when we were able to break on them a few times and get chances just to miss the target.”
A combination of missed opportunities led the Aggies to a 1-0 deficit entering halftime. Most notable was Becerra’s 13th minute attempt and a last-ditch effort in the final five minutes of the half.
Becerra’s aforementioned shot was saved by Wojdelko, sending the ball into the woodwork.
In the 42nd and 43rd minutes, shots by Becerra and Brie Severns were narrowly sent off target.
“We just said we needed to execute,” Calzada said. “We had the intensity but were just dropping off too much. We needed to stay high. We needed to stay confident. Keep the ball in the half, keep our defense high. I think we did that and we did that really well.”
Both teams were vigilant leading into the 81st minute. A constant onslaught of attempts was met with blocks, saves and missed opportunities. In total, the Aggies claimed four shots and four shots-on-goal, while the Commodores claimed eight shots and two shots-on-goal.
The largest stretch between attempts in this period was six minutes, between the 75th and 81st minutes of play.
Here, the Commodores extended the lead. A shot by Caroline Betts, assisted by Jones, found the back of the Aggie net.
Calzada took a final attempt in the 89th minute, powering its way out and right.
“It can look a little bit like a chess match,” Guerrieri said. “Again, once you get some of those key pieces, then all of a sudden they get a chance to kinda turn the board a little bit, and that's a little bit of what happened to it.
“When we went down two, then it adjusted the psychology a little bit. We had to change our shape in the way that we were chasing the game. So we had to change the way that we were attacking, the way that we were trying to come at them a little bit.”
On Sunday, Guerrieri & Co. will travel to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide (7-3-5, 0-1-5). Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT.