Texas A&M
Baylor
Aggies Blank Bears to Open Big 12 Play, 1-0
Sep 22, 2006 | Soccer
September 22, 2006
The 12th-ranked and defending Big 12 Champion Texas A&M soccer team opened its 2006 Big 12 soccer season with a 1-0 shutout victory over Baylor on Friday night in front of 923 fans at Betty Lou Mays Field in Waco.
The Aggies controlled the majority of play, outshooting the Bears 11-1 in the first half. In the games 20th minute, Aggie junior midfielder Elizabeth Jones received a diagonal pass from teammate Amy Berend in behind the Bear back line. Jones took the ball in 1-on-1 against Baylor keeper Ashley Holder and beat her with a hard shot past the keeper?™s left hand; however the ball ricocheted off the goal post and away from goal.
Six minutes later, senior midfielder Madison Klovstad combined with Ashlee Pistorius and Cydne Currie to get a good look at goal from 18 yards, however, her shot past Holder struck the crossbar and bounced away from danger.
Finally, in the game?™s 38th minute, sophomore Micah Stephens made a long overlapping run into the Bear penalty area and chipped the ball across the face of the goal, where a diving Suzzette Devloo beat Holder for what would prove to be the game winning goal.
?Baylor did a great job tonight,? said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. ?They worked hard all night and made it very difficult for us. This is a hard place to play, and I?™m happy for the way our players competed.?
In the second half the Aggies continued to control the play even though they were playing against a strong 30-mile per hour wind.
Devloo found herself in behind the Bear defense in the 48th minute but was denied on the breakaway by Holder, who had seven saves on the night. Amy Berend, Nicole Ketchum, and Paige Carmichael all had stellar performances for the Aggies in the middle of the field. Carmichael was named State Farm Player of the Game.
For the game, the Aggies held the Bears to just 1 shot on goal, while A&M took 17 shots. Freshman goalkeeper Kristin Arnold just had to make 1 save to earn her fourth shutout of the season.
The Aggies, who have now gone unbeaten in the last 10 Big 12 games, dating back to October of 2005, will now travel to Lubbock to face the Red Raiders on Sunday at 1 p.m. at R.P. Fuller Stadium.
