Texas A&M
Wake Forest
Soccer Posts 2-1 Victory Over No. 17 Wake Forest
Sep 07, 2008 | Soccer
Sept. 7, 2008
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Texas A&M sophomore Inge Harding and junior Cydne Currie each netted goals to lead the No. 11 Aggies past No. 17 Wake Forest, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at the Hawthorne Suites Invitational in Blacksburg, Va.
A&M (5-1-0) handed the Demon Deacons (4-1-0) their first loss of the season and its two scores doubled the amount of goals the Wake Forest defense allowed all season. The Deacons and the Aggies were both ranked as high as No. 10 according to the Soccer Times and Soccer Buzz polls, respectively.
"It was a great weekend for Texas A&M soccer," said head coach G Guerrieri. "Getting two road wins against ACC teams is a nice feather in the team's cap. You're going to have to score quality goals against a national top 10 team like Wake Forest and those were the kind of goals Inge and Cydne scored today."
The Aggies strong defensive pressure in the first half led to a back and forth battle in the middle of the field. Both teams held control of the ball, but A&M's attack zeroed in with four shots on frame compared to two from the Deacons.
Sophomore Whitney Hooper had a foot in the action early with two hard shots on goal four minutes apart. Her first blast came 20 yards out on a pass from sophomore Rachel Shipley, and shortly later she dribbled down the right flank firing a ball that the Wake Forest keeper managed to deflect with a high hand.
The two teams went into the locker room tied 0-0 at the half.
The Aggie defense was a wall early in the second period, keeping Wake Forest out of the penalty area and forcing any shots to come from beyond 18 yards.
Three minutes into the second period, senior Laura Grace Robinson drew a foul across the midfield to set up the first free kick of the period. Freshman Becca Herrera sent a pass from the right side towards the near post and six yards out, Harding put her head on the ball, directing it inside the near post to get the Ags out on top, 1-0.
With A&M on the attack much of the second half, Hooper sprinted her way to the right side of the penalty box in the 76th minute and played a ball to an oncoming Currie. The Irving, Texas, product headed the ball into the back of the net just inside the far post to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
With time running down, Wake Forest turned up its attack and a loose ball that bounced through the box with four minutes remaining was picked up by Jill Hutchinson and drained into the left-side netting to bring the Deacons within one.
A&M kept the Deacons off the scoreboard in the lasting minutes to seal its fifth victory and second at the Hawthorne Suites Invitational. The Aggies tallied eight shots on goal in the contest to just four from Wake Forest.
After a career performance on Friday, sophomore Kelly Dyer posted three saves in goal, while A&M forced Deacon keeper Amanda Barasha to make six saves.
The Aggies return home for a match against Princeton on Friday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
