Texas A&M
Texas
No. 20 Soccer Blanks Texas, 4-0
Oct 30, 2009 | Soccer
Oct. 30, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 20 Texas A&M soccer team turned in a dominating performance as four different players scored goals to lead the Aggies to a 4-0 shutout of Texas on Friday night in front of 4,385 fans at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.
A&M (12-5-2, 6-2-2 Big 12) earned its third straight shutout and extended its unbeaten streak to three matches, while the Longhorns (8-8-3, 4-3-3 Big 12) were handed their first loss against the Aggies since Oct. 12, 2007. A&M also gained one point in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown to even the standings at 1.0-1.0.
With the win Texas A&M secured the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Championship and will face No. 7 seed Baylor in San Antonio, Texas, on Wed, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m.
"Texas is a good defending team and doesn't give up many goals, but our front three, our attacking five, have been really clicking lately," said head coach G Guerrieri. "It was a really good week of practice and it was a really nice performance for our team. We talked about before the game that we were due and I thought it was a pretty complete match by our attacking side. Our defense played well too and we feel pretty good about the way that we're going into the [Big 12] tournament."
Texas A&M fired off seven shots in the initial 30 minutes, but the first pair it placed on frame in the 34th minute put the Aggies up 1-0. On a serve by junior Kim Castleberry's first shot directly in front of the goal in the six-yard box was stopped by a UT defender, but she would not be denied a second time and buried her subsequent rebound opportunity into the back of the net for her second goal of the year.
"It was really great to see Kim score," Guerrieri said. "She's been working hard; she's been feeling a lot better and playing a lot better the last three weeks. She's a goal scorer and it's one of those things that we hope that once the dam gets broken that more can follow."
The Aggies did not miss a beat after returning to the field for the start of the second half. Just two-and-a-half minutes into the period, sophomore Bri Young dribbled up the middle of the field and blasted a shot from 25 yards that beat a diving UT goalkeeper inside the right post.
Young set up the next goal when she sent a pass through traffic and across the goal to freshman Nora Skelton. The Austin, Texas, native cut around a defender and fired a low shot past a diving Alexa Gaul and into the right-side netting to give A&M a 3-0 lead.
With eight minutes remaining, Texas was called for a hand ball in the box on senior Cydne Currie's fourth shot of the match. Junior Rachel Shipley slotted home the subsequent penalty kick to stretch A&M's advantage to 4-0.
The Aggie defense (Rachel Balaguer, Emily Peterson, Mary Grace Schmidt and Lyndsey Gnatzig) held the Longhorns without a shot in the last 25 minutes of the first half and limited UT to just two shots on goal. A&M produced 26 shots compared to 10 from Texas. The Aggies also held the edge in corner kicks, 6-1.
Junior goalkeepers Kelly Dyer and Kristin Arnold each made one save and combined for the team's ninth shutout.
Castleberry and Shipley led the Aggies with four shots, including three shots on goal.
