Texas A&M
Washington State
Mautz Strikes Again for an Aggie Win
Aug 29, 2010 | Soccer
Aug. 29, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M senior Alyssa Mautz did it again on Sunday afternoon at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. The midfielder from O'Fallon, Mo., scored the decisive lone goal in a 1-0 shutout of No. 21 Washington State.
The ninth-ranked Aggies (3-1) came within inches against the Cougars (1-3) all afternoon, but Mautz found the back of the net with her fourth goal of the weekend and fifth on the year in the 63rd minute.
Senior goalkeeper Kristin Arnold made four saves to earn her second shutout of the season.
"To come in and beat a quality Pac-10 team that has been in several NCAA Tournaments recently was a good accomplishment for our team," commented A&M head coach G Guerrieri. "To shut them out was even better. This was a good weekend for us to gain some winning experience and it was two good games for us to continue to build on."
The Cougars held possession for the first 10 minutes of the game, but except for a few counter attacks from Washington State, it was all A&M for the remainder of the match.
In fact, in the first half, the Aggies held Washington State to just two shots in the last 35 minutes.
For a 10-minute span in the middle of the period, A&M clawed at the Cougars with five of its 10 corner kicks and six shots. Hard strikes by junior Mary Grace Schmidt hit the near post.
"We had some great serves on some of our flank play and were just an inch off here and there," Guerrieri said. "Give credit to Washington State. They played hard and made it so that we had to earn every inch that we got a hold of."
The teams were deadlocked in a scoreless tie at the half and in the 56th minute, Washington State had its most dangerous opportunity. A casual pass by the Aggies in their defensive third was picked off by a Cougar and sent into the six-yard box to Brandi Vega . From point-blank range, Vega one-touched a shot that A&M goalkeeper Kristin Arnold deflected out of bounds in the blink of an eye.
Seven minutes later, the Aggies had good possession and finished it with the lone goal of the afternoon. Sophomore Raven Tatum found Shipley on the left side in A&M's attacking third. Shipley `s cross from near the end line was then one-touched into the goal at the far post by Mautz to give A&M a 1-0 lead.
"The goal was set up with nice combination play on our left flank," Guerrieri said. "Shipley got end line and really threaded the needle to get the ball through the Cougar defense to Mautz. Mautz's hustle and dedication to get on the end of that ball was the difference in today's game."
The Aggies peppered the Washington State defense with eight more shots in the last 27 minutes. Mathias hit cross bar from 23 yards, senior Kat Armstrong brought the keeper to her knees with a one-touch strike in the six-yard box and Mautz blasted the post from just inside the penalty area.
In the match, A&M outshot Washington State, 26-8, including a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. The Aggies also held a strong advantage in corner kicks, 10-2. Mautz took a game-high seven shots, followed by Mathias with six.
Prior to A&M's match at the Aggieland Invitational, Long Beach State took down its second ranked opponent this weekend with a 2-1 victory over No. 16 Virginia Tech.
The Aggies close out their season-opening, five-game homestand next weekend with a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Sept. 3 against Davidson.
