Texas A&M
Ohio State
Soccer Ends Preseason with 1-1 Draw
Aug 18, 2006 | Soccer
August 18, 2006
After a 40-minute rain delay the No. 9 Texas A&M soccer team came from behind to end the game in a 1-1 tie against the Ohio State Buckeyes on wet Friday night at Columbus Crew Stadium.
?It was a great preseason test for us,? stated A&M head coach G. Guerrieri. ?It showed us some things that we are doing really well and some things that we need to clean up a little bit. We had a chance to put a lot of people in, and scored a great a great goal. We really should have scored five more. This was a good way for us to wrap-up our preseason.?
Ohio State got on the board first; with 19:14 left in the second half Melissa Miller planted a pass from Lara Dickenmann for OSU?™s only goal in the lower left end of the box and putting the Buckeyes up 1-0.
However persistence paid off for A&M as Ashlee Pistorius evened the score at one with 5:14 left in regulation on a double assist form Laura Grace Robinson and Elisabeth Jones. Pistorius dribbled towards the middle of the box pulling Robertson out of the goal, creating and finishing the scoring opportunity.
During the beginning of the first half of play, possession of the ball was consistent between both teams, however A&M managed to gain momentum as the match wore on, firing a total of 13 shots compared to OSU?™s two going into the half. As time expired, the two teams remained deadlocked at zero.
The Aggies?™ had numerous scoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes including Alison Martino?™s free kick from about 30 yards out, with just under 28 minutes left, that Buckeye keeper Lauren Robertson managed to blocked over the crossbar.
Then Linda Pierson repeated with a free kick with 24:04 on the clock and Robertson again managed to get a hand on the ball for the save.
Another scoring possibility came with Robertson pulled out of the box and freshman Amber Gnatzig was able to fire two back-to-back shots with just over 11 minutes left in the half that resulted in OSU team saves.
The Buckeyes?™ biggest chance to net the ball in the first half came with seven minutes left off a called handball on Pierson. Dickenmann took the free kick, but Aggie goalkeeper Kristin Arnold smothered the ball for one of two saves she registered in the first period.
Shots in the second 45-minutes of play were more evenly distributed as Ohio State managed seven to A&M?™s nine. Overall, the Aggies outshot the Buckeyes 22-9, taking 11 corners to OSU?™s two.
OSU?™s Robertson made 12 saves while the Aggie goalkeepers, Arnold and Julie Spearink, were forced to make six.
?Ohio State did great,? Guerrieri continued. ?Their goalkeeper Lauren Robertson was outstanding. She made 12 saves and some of them were definitely world-class saves. Hats off to her and hats off to Ohio State because we had to work hard to get ourselves going.?
Pistorius was named State Farm Player of the Game, scoring the goal that evened the score.
The Aggies will begin the regular season at home on Friday, Aug. 25 against North Carolina. The game is slated for 8 p.m. Single-match and season tickets are available by logging on to aggieathletics.com or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.
