March 05, 2006
The defending Big 12 Soccer Champion Texas A&M Aggies extended their spring season record to a perfect 4-0 on Sunday at the Aggie Soccer Stadium by defeating a talented pair of Olympic Development Program teams representing North Texas and South Texas.
Texas A&M opened the day?â„¢s round robin affair with a 7-1 thumping of the North Texas ODP team. The Aggies jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead just 6 minutes into the first half. Madison Klovstad strated the scoring in the 2nd minute, running onto a little through ball from midfielder Amy Berend and driving a low, hard shot past the north Texas goalkeeper.
Two minutes later, Ashlee Pistorius won possession of the ball just outside the North Texas 18-yard line, and found fellow sophomore forward Melissa Garey streaking toward goal with a finely weighted pass which Garey buried in the North Texas goal for a 2-0 Aggie advantage.
Then, two minutes later Pistorius and Garey again connected as Pistorius beat the North Texas off side trap, dribbled at the goalkeeper, then passed the ball to a wide open Garey at the back post, where Garey walked it into the net. Pistorius closed out the Aggies?â„¢ first half scoring when she headed in a pass from Linda Pierson, nodding it over the goalkeeper for a 4-0 lead in the 17th minute.
In the 2nd half, A&M continued to poor on the offensive pressure, as sophomore midfielder Amy Berend scored a goal and assisted Klovstad on her 2nd goal of the game. The Aggies closed out the scoring in the 60th minute when sophomore forward Allison Martino bent a corner kick directly into the back corner of the North Texas net.
"This was a good day," said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. "That Olympic Development Team consists of many of the best juniors and seniors in the northern half of our state. They will be playing at quality college programs in the future.
?Yesterday they were tied by SMU in a game up in Dallas,? Guerrieri noted. ?And today they did some good things. Rachel Shipley scored a terrific goal for them, hitting a 20 yard full volley from a crossed ball, past Nicki Benningfield. But, even as good as our opponents played, I was very pleased with the way we controlled the game, both in attack and defense."
Following the game against the Aggies, North Texas beat South Texas 3-0.
In the nightcap the Aggies shutout South Texas, 1-0. In that game, A&M outshot the South Texans 10-0, and had 10 corner kicks to South Texas' one, but the ODP players were able to hold the Aggies in check until the 77th minute when freshman defender Emily Peterson flew up the Aggies' left flank and found Ashlee Pistorius in the middle of the field, 30 yards from goal. Pistorius beat one player with her controlling touch; then hammered a right-footed shot from 25 yards that beat the goalkeeper for the game-winner.
?Today was a good physical test for us,? commented Guerrieri. ?The spring is all about challenging and developing our players. Playing two full games against two quality opponents is a tough challenge that I'm pleased to see our players embrace. These games provided a lot of playing time for all of our players who were not nursing some sort of injury, and I am pleased to see how well they all did."
The Aggies will play their next game this Thursday night, against The United States U20 National Team at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.
"We are very fortunate to have the U20 National Team coming to Aggieland this coming week," said Guerrieri. "They have recently qualified for the upcoming U20 World Championship Tournament, being held in Russia this coming August. They will clearly be one of the favorites to win the World Championship.
"They will be training and playing four games at the Aggie Soccer Stadium this Thursday through Sunday,? added Guerrieri. ?Providing us with an amazing game opportunity and a fine chance for soccer fans to see some of the world's best youth players competing for a final roster spot on the U20 roster."
The Aggies will play the USA on Thursday March 9th. Kickoff is set for 7pm at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. The USA will play 3 more games at the Aggie Soccer Stadium through the remainder of the week. On Friday the USA will play Marquette University at 5pm, on Saturday they will play Brigham Young University at 10am, and then on Sunday they will take on Vanderbilt University at 10am before breaking up their training camp in Aggieland.
"I hope that our fans will come out to see us play on Thursday night, and that they will come see the USA in their other games. All of these games are free to the public, so it's a fantastic opportunity for all the fans," concluded Guerrieri.