March 31, 2007
The Texas A&M and University of Florida soccer teams battled to a 2-2 draw at the Aggie Soccer Stadium on Saturday night. The perennial national powers played an attractive attacking exhibition which saw four goals but no winner decided.
The Aggies scored the first two goals of the match, but played a player down for the game?â„¢s last 28 minutes.
Texas A&M opened the scoring just 53 seconds after the opening kickoff when Elizabeth Jones and Allison Martino took a quick corner kick and Martino dribbled at goal before driving a cross across the face of the Gator goal mouth which All-American forward Ashlee Pistorius volleyed into the net for a 1-0 lead.
The next 60 minutes of the game went back and forth as both teams played a quick, control based game.
The teams had agreed prior to the match to play three thirty minute periods instead of the traditional 45 minutes halves, and A&M still led the game 1-0 after the second intermission. But, two minutes into the start of the third period, Amy Berend was ruled to have encroached on a UF free kick and given a second yellow card from the referee, ejecting her from the game, putting Florida at an 11-10 man advantage for the remainder of the match.
?This was a tough game against a really good opponent,? A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. ?You never like to see a player kicked out of a game, especially for something like that, but this became a hard-luck opportunity for our players to learn a tough lesson.?
Just three minutes after Berend?â„¢s ejection, the Aggies were awarded a free kick just outside the corner of the UF penalty area. Junior midfielder Melissa Garey stepped up and blasted a hard shot at goal which was partially cleared by the Gator defense, but before it left the penalty area, A&M midfielder Madison Klovstad pounced on the loose ball and hit a one-time shot into the net from 15 yards out.
The remainder of the match saw the Aggies dropping off to try and protect their lead against the UF attack, but they could not. Florida got on the board in the games 72nd minute on a cross and header at the Aggie back post. The Gators then tied the game in the 75th minute on a counter-attack from an Aggie free kick.
?This is the kind of game we love to play in the spring. We are challenged physically, technically, tactically and psychologically by quality teams like Florida. This was a real attractive game for the spectators and a good finish to a challenging spring schedule for us,? said Guerrieri.
NCAA rules allow teams to play five competition dates in the spring non-traditional season. The Aggies played full-sided matches against the USA U20 Women?â„¢s National Team, BYU, LSU and Florida and played 7-v-7 matches against the University of North Texas, Texas-San Antonio, Rice and the University of Houston, and concluded the season with a 5-1-2 record.
?We can look at this match, and others that we played this non-traditional season as good learning experiences for our players. We?â„¢ll grow wiser and more experienced in tough games this fall because of our experiences this spring season,? stated Guerrieri. ?Hopefully this will aid us in defending our Big 12 Conference championship and to make a serious run at the 2007 national championship.?
This fall, the Aggies will again play one of the nation?â„¢s toughest schedules in the NCAA regular season; including 2006 NCAA Tournament teams Duke, West Virginia, Penn State, Oklahoma State, Texas, Colorado, UW?-Milwaukee and the defending NCAA National Champions from the University of North Carolina. Texas A&M will host the 2007 NCAA Women?â„¢s College Cup in December at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.