Texas A&M
Colorado
No. 20 Soccer Blanks Colorado, 2-0
Oct 23, 2009 | Soccer
Oct. 23, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 20 Texas A&M soccer team scored two first half goals and held on for a 2-0 victory against Colorado on Friday night at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.
Junior Alyssa Mautz brought the crowd of 2,622 to its feet just 2:43 into the match with what would be the game-winning goal from 25 yards out into the upper-left 90. Sophomore Katie Hamilton put the Aggies up 2-0 in the 34th minute.
Securing its seventh shutout of the season and moving up to second place in the Big 12, A&M improves to 11-5-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the conference. The Aggies win their third straight against the Buffaloes (8-8-0, 5-3-0 Big 12) and knock CU down to third place in the league.
"I was pleased with our back line and with our whole team," said head coach G Guerrieri. "Being able to get up by two goals at halftime, all of a sudden we could make them have to earn even more. It was a more complete game than we've seen for quite a while and scoring early is a good thing."
The Aggies got out to a quick start and with their second shot of the match took a 1-0 lead. A punt by junior goalkeeper Kelly Dyer went directly to Hamilton in A&M's attacking third. Hamilton was defended well, but slid a pass to Mautz who blasted her shot into the upper-left 90 from beyond the top of the box.
Minutes later Mautz forced CU keeper Kara Linder to make a diving save at the near post off of a strike from 18 yards.
Colorado countered in the 13th minute as Nikki Marshall snuck behind the A&M defense and had a dangerous opportunity off of a long pass that she struck wide of the goal. Soon thereafter, a header by Kelly Menachof on a corner kick bounced off the cross bar giving the Aggies another scare.
A&M regained possession and began threading passes through the midfield. In the 34th minute, sophomore Bri Young controlled the ball in A&M's offensive third and went wide to freshman Chelsea Jones. The Belton, Texas, native then served Hamilton in the middle of the box and her shot from 12 yards went into the left-side netting to put the Aggies up 2-0.
"Really [they were] two great goals," said Guerrieri. "Alyssa's goal was right out of a highlight reel. Everything was lined up perfectly and she's been striking a lot of those lately in training, so it was good for her to get one in the match. The second goal was a fantastic build up. I don't know how many passes we strung together, but it was quite a few, and then to find a smart forward in front of goal is a always a great thing and Katie buried it just like she has been all season."
The Aggies changed formation in the second half and still managed to outshoot the Buffaloes, 6-5, for a 19-14 shot advantage in the match. A&M also put seven strikes on frame compared to just four from Colorado.
The only real threat CU posed in the second half was in the 80th minute. Junior Kristin Arnold was forced to come out of her line and Shaye Marshall struck a light shot that sophomore Rachael Balaguer blocked and cleared to help A&M earn a shutout.
Mautz and Shipley took a team-high four shots. Dyer made three saves between the posts, while Arnold gathered one.
The Aggies return to the pitch on Sunday for a 1:30 p.m. match against Texas Tech.
