Match #11: Florida 5, Texas A&M 2
Records: Texas A&M (4-7-0, 0-4-0), Florida (5-3-3, 1-1-2)
Box Score
The Aggies got Gator chomped.
Texas A&M (4-7-0, 0-4-0) failed its fourth straight opportunity to secure an SEC win, falling to Florida (5-3-3, 1-1-2) at home on Sunday, 5-2.
A hot and sunny afternoon at Ellis Field saw 1,330 fans turn out to see the Aggies get outshot 15-13.
“I don’t think we were prepared to play [today],” head coach Bobby Shuttleworth said. “I think the first half performance is completely unacceptable. Obviously, it starts with the coaching staff and having them ready to play. We got pushed around in the first half and paid the price for it.”
Florida opened the match with intensity and never took its foot off the gas with direct play and physicality. The Gators wore the Aggies down.
A&M struggled in the midfield and gave up second balls, allowing Florida to dictate the game.
Shuttleworth said he and his team talked about how Florida would be aggressive in its press, how it would play behind them and how good the Gators were at set pieces, yet all of those things were problems in the first half.
“This Florida team played a tough game against Texas at home,” the head Aggie man said. “And they flew on a plane here, so we’ve got zero excuses as to why that first half performance came out.”
The Gators opened the scoring 1-0 in the 14th minute with a throw-in by Zoe Main that Lael Hill headed into the top center of the net, with junior Adelaide Paredes unable to make the save.
Florida’s Kyra Taylor capitalized on a wide-open goal after pushing freshman Ava Sexton off the ball in the 22nd minute, doubling the score 2-0.
However, the Aggies were not able to follow through in the attacking third — a consistent problem.
Freshman Ireland Churchill was subbed out in the 33rd minute for Kieana Smith, and that is where the Gator offense chomped down.
Florida’s Sophia Sindelar struck from outside the box and netted the third goal of the first half off the inside of the post in the 35th minute.
Without skipping a beat, the Gators’ Lena Bailey served the ball to Katie Johnston, advancing the score to 4-0 in the 37th minute.
It was all Gators going into halftime.
“We need to fight,” Shuttleworth said. “We need to sprint. We need to be aggressive. We need to be more intentful. Because that was the opposite of what we were in the first half.”
A&M’s inability to clear the ball after a Gator corner kick allowed Taylor to capitalize and secure a brace in the 54th minute.
After 61 minutes of playing time and five goals allowed, Shuttleworth made the call to relieve Paredes with freshman Makenna August, who had started eight games prior this season before Paredes took over the past two games.
The Aggies’ first goal of the afternoon came from a PK by senior Trinity Buchanan in the 63rd minute after a foul on senior Mia Scranton.
There was some life shown in the Aggies with a 71st-minute goal by freshman Morgan Landry in the center after a ball from sophomore Norah Bell. Florida remained in the lead 5-2.
“We need players that are gonna fight and be aggressive,” Shuttleworth said. “And know what it means to play at this program or what the standards need to be every single time around the field. It can't be that we're really good one game, and we're doing all those things, and then the next game, it's not that. So that's not what this program is, and it hasn't been in the past, and it's not what it's going to be in the future.”
“It's all a learning experience,” Buchanan said. “We can always do better, and I think there's a lot to build on and learn from in this game.”
Up next, A&M takes on Georgia at Turner Soccer Complex in Athens on Friday, Oct. 2.
