Texas A&M
Stephen F. Austin
Second-Half Goals Lead Aggies to 3-0 Win
Aug 26, 2005 | Soccer
August 26, 2005
Melissa Garey scored a pair of goals on Friday to lead No. 6 Texas A&M to a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin before a record crowd of 5,447 fans in the Aggies' season opener at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.
"It was a squad victory," commented A&M head coach G Guerrieri. "With the depth and talent we have, it was a collection of effort by the whole team."
Last year's Big 12 Rookie of the Year Ashlee Pistorius scored the game-winner seven minutes into the second half. After Linda Pierson was fouled, Pistorius bent a direct free kick over the head of SFA keeper Natascia Michalezki and into the back of the net.
Garey scored twice in the last eight minutes to seal the A&M win.
In the 83rd minute, Garey benefited from a couple of brilliant passes from Laura Grace Robinson and Pistorius. Garey beat Michalezki to her left to make the score 2-0.
With 39 seconds remaining, Garey one-timed a volley on a diagonal cross from Emily Peterson, for her second goal of the night.
Although play in the first half was dominated by the Aggies, the teams went to the locker room scoreless at the half.
"At halftime I told the team we needed to be patient," Guerrieri said. "We needed to increase the speed of the game and make quicker decisions."
A&M had their chances to score in the first 45 minutes. A rocket shot by Becky Olson in the sixth minute squarely hit the crossbar, before being cleared by the SFA defense.
With just over seven minutes left in the first half, Suzzette Devloo maneuvered in traffic and just missed wide to the right from 12 yards out.
The Aggies outshot the Ladyjacks, 33-2, and took seven corners while SFA had none. Both of SFA's shots were in the first half.
The 5,447 fans to enter the turnstiles eclipsed the previous record of 5,384 against Texas last season.
"I was really happy with the support of the 12th Man," Guerrieri said. "Other programs can only dream of the fan support we have here in College Station."
The Aggies return to action this Sunday, August 28, when they travel to Ft. Worth to take on Texas Christian University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium. TCU is 1-0-0 after defeating Texas Tech, 4-0, Friday night.
