Match #5: Texas A&M 2, Air Force 1
Records: Texas A&M (3-2-0, 0-0-0), Air Force (3-1-0, 0-0-0)
Box Score
The unbeaten Air Force came to Aggieland for the first time and got beaten.
Texas A&M (3-2-0, 0-0-0) handed the visiting Falcons (3-1-0, 0-0-0) their first loss of the season on Thursday, with 1,422 in attendance to witness the Aggies’ 2-1 win.
The Maroon & White maintained possession of the ball at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to outshoot the Falcons 23-16.
However, there are still lessons to be learned from Thursday’s game, even with a win on the scoreboard for the Aggies.
Bobby Shuttleworth said his team can only get better from playing games, especially with a new, young roster.
“I think it's a little bit of naivety,” the A&M head coach said. “We have a lot of young players on the field. We've got to learn from those experiences and understand what are the things that we're doing that are giving us success right now.
“What are the things that we're doing that are causing problems for ourselves? We need to be more consistent in doing the good things than the bad things.”
Despite youthful mistakes, the two goals tonight were scored by two freshmen.
It was a slow, back-and-forth until Finley Lacher scored her second goal of the season in the 22nd minute with assists from Ireland Churchill and Leah Diaz.
Lacher said she eventually got the goal after looking over at Shuttleworth and letting him know she had been open every single time prior.
“Obviously, she's seen a lot of minutes right now,” Shuttleworth said of Lacher. “She's been very consistent in her technical execution. Her passing has been really, really good, so I think those are things that she needs to continue to do, and then keep putting herself in good spots to receive and face forward, and work in transition to get back when she needs to get back.”
In the 30th minute, a foul in the box by Air Force Jordan Dillingham on Churchill resulted in a penalty kick, which the young Aggie buried to increase the lead to 2-0.
Churchill’s penalty ended up being the decisive goal after an Emma Hoang foul in the 54th minute gave Air Force its first goal as Annika Jost hit the back of the net from the spot.
A&M’s defense around the box was oftentimes a struggle, especially in the second half when the Falcons created more opportunities.
“I thought we got away from doing the things that were getting us in good spots and making us dangerous, and I thought, then, we'd go into the game a little bit, and they caused us some problems at the end,” Shuttleworth said.
A win is a win, but the Aggies have some work to do if they want to be a championship-winning team.
The Aggies were scoreless in the second half and gave away too many second balls.
A&M spent the first 20 minutes dribbling and looked uncertain where they wanted the ball to be.
“When we find consistency in our choices to pass a little bit to good spaces, then we're gonna find more consistency in our attack,” Shuttleworth said.
Luckily, freshman goalkeeper Makenna August has found more consistency in net as she had to be more active than in prior games.
Allowing just the PK, August made seven total stops, which matches a career high.
“Obviously, as a team, we got a little broken down here and there,” August said. “But then I'm here to pick up my team just like they're here to pick me up when I make mistakes.”
Lacher believes the team simply needs to focus on passing and building with one another.
“We're a way better off team when we're passing,” she said. “Not kicking, not just playing it straight up to the forwards and having them run, but building up as a team and just a connection, building up from the back, all the way up to the front, just really helps us.”
Hoping to continue a home-field winning streak, A&M plays TCU at Ellis Field on Thursday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. CT.
