Texas A&M
Texas
Aggies Advance to Big 12 Championship Final
Nov 06, 2009 | Soccer
Nov. 6, 2009
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Sophomore Katie Hamilton led the second-seeded Texas A&M soccer team into the Big 12 Championship final with two goals, including the game-winner, in a 5-1 victory against sixth-seeded Texas on Friday night at the Blossom Soccer Stadium.
In front of a crowd of 2,038, the 20th-ranked Aggies (14-5-2) scored on every shot they put on frame for a season-high five goals. The win over the Longhorns (9-9-3) was their second this season and extended their unbeaten streak to five straight matches.
A&M advances to the Big 12 Tournament championship match for the ninth time in program history and is in search of its 11th Big 12 trophy. A&M faces fifth-seeded Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. Sunday in a match televised on FSN. The Cowgirls won their seventh straight game in a 3-2 upset of top-seeded Missouri in the earlier semifinal match.
"I'm very pleased with the way we defended tonight. Texas did a good job; they came out with a different type of scheme against us, but the adjustments we made at halftime definitely worked. It was just some clinical finishing by our attacking players.
"It's good that we're doing this at the right time of the year and hopefully we can recover from an emotional game like this and be close to our best on Sunday against a really good Oklahoma State team. It should be a terrific final and we're looking forward to an opportunity to win another championship. "
Early in the match a back-and-forth battle in the middle third of the field kept the shot count low. A&M's first opportunity came off the head of sophomore Katie Hamilton on a serve from junior Whitney Hooper in the 11th minute.
Junior goalkeeper Kelly Dyer made a big save on a breakaway in the 26th minute. Sophie Campise slipped behind the A&M back line on a long pass and was 1v1 with Dyer who came out and made diving stop on her knees to keep the game scoreless.
The Aggies' next shot would not come until the 34th minute, but junior Rachel Shipley made it a good one, striking a low-driven shot past a diving Alexa Gaul inside the near post to put A&M on the scoreboard. The score marks Shipley's eight of the season.
In the second half, A&M fended off early pressure from Texas and still limited the Longhorns to just one shot in the stretch.
On a counter by A&M in the 56th minute, freshman Nora Skelton dribbled down the left flank and cut inside in the box to fire off shot that went off the body of a diving Gaul and deflected to Hamilton in front of the goal. Hamilton stopped the ball and kicked it into an open goal to put the Aggies up 2-0.
A minute later, Hooper picked off a lazy pass that a UT defender sent back to her keeper. Hooper was 1v1 against Gaul and buried her shot into the back of the net to make the score 3-0.
The Aggies did not stop there and 10 minutes later struck again. With the ball in A&M's attacking third the initial serve was knocked out by Texas, but sophomore Bri Young gathered the ball at the end line, unmarked, and was able to send a beautiful cross to Hamilton who was running into the center of the box. Hamilton one-timed a strike into the back of the net from 11 yards for her eighth goal of the year and gave A&M a 4-0 advantage.
The Longhorns netted their only goal against the Aggies this season on a penalty kick by Erica Campanelli at the 83rd minute mark.
A&M answered and regained its four-goal lead six minutes later. With the ball on the right side in the Aggies' attacking third, Skelton was taken down hard. Young took the free kick and her bender was headed into goal by a determined, diving Cydne Currie.
The Aggie defense played another strong game and has now given up just four goals in the last nine matches. Dyer made three stops in goal the first half and junior Kristin Arnold recorded one save.
Texas A&M put five of eight shots on frame and held a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.
