Texas A&M
Baylor
Soccer Advances to Friday’s Semifinal With 3-0 Win
Nov 01, 2006 | Soccer
November 01, 2006
The 7th-ranked Texas A&M soccer team posted two goals in the first half and one in the second to lead it past the Baylor Lady Bears, 3-0, in the opening game of the 2006 Big 12 Championship at Blossom Soccer Stadium.
Just two minutes into the match Paige Carmichael sent a pass from the middle of the A&M midfield to Laura Grace Robinson who dribbled past a Baylor defender down the right flank and from the far corner drove the ball back into Ashlee Pistorius who was waiting in the box to flick a shot past Baylor keeper Ashley Holder for what would prove the game-winner.
The Aggies would score their second goal of the half with just under 10 minutes left in the first period. Senior Linda Pierson slotted the ball to Carmichael about 24 yards out. Carmichael then sent a high cross into the left side of the box where freshman Cydne Currie was crashing on the net. Currie got just enough of a toe on the ball to tuck away her third goal of the season, just behind the right post.
A&M took a comfortable 2-0 lead into halftime. The Aggie attack controlled the entire first half of play, outshooting Baylor, 12-1, taking five corners to Baylor?™s none.
?Our players came into the game really ready to perform,? commented A&M head coach G Guerrieri. ?Our possession and speed of play were good enough to open up a very well organized Baylor defense and we got a lot of looks at goal. I think their goalkeeper might have set a new Big 12 Championship record for saves, which shows that we were getting our shots on target.?
The Aggies forced Baylor keeper Ashley Holder to make 14 saves for the match as A&M maintained complete control of the game.
With just over five minutes left in the match, A&M strung together a series of passes just outside the Bear penalty area and then sprung senior Kat Krambeer in for a breakaway, where she netted her fifth goal of the season, firing a hard shot over the fingers of Holder, increasing the Aggie lead to 3-0.
With the win the Aggies improved to 14-4-1 on the season while Baylor finished with a 6-12-1 record. The shutout was A&M?™s 10th of the season.
The match was just the second time the Aggies and Lady Bears faced off in the Big 12 Championship. The first game came in the first Big 12 Championship in 1996 in St. Louis, Mo. A&M won the game 5-4 in overtime.
The Aggies will face the winner of the Kansas and Colorado match on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster statewide in Texas or through the San Antonio Sports Foundation web site (sanantoniosports.org). Prices are $6 per session, $12 for a three-day pass or $99 for a Team Pack of 20 tickets.
