Texas A&M
Indiana
No. 7 Soccer Nets First Road Win
Sep 10, 2010 | Soccer
Sept. 10, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 7 Texas A&M soccer team scored three first half goals Friday night en route to a 5-2 victory against Indiana at Armstrong Stadium.
In their first road match of the season, the Aggies (5-1) extended their winning streak to five straight, while handing the Hoosiers (3-3) their second loss at home.
"Right now we have a lot of attacking options," said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. "When we are able to get a rhythm and get it going, we are explosive and we look pretty good."
The Aggies came out strong and put plenty of early pressure on the Hoosiers by firing off four shots on frame in the first six minutes.
It only took A&M until the 14th minute to put their first tally on the scoreboard. Junior Bri Young sent a long pass down the right flank to senior Alyssa Mautz. Mautz then made a move towards goal and took a shot aimed at the near post from 10 yards. The ball went through IU goalkeeper Lauren Hollandsworth's hands and into the back of the net for a 1-0 A&M lead.
The Aggies netted a second goal just four minutes later. With the ball in A&M's attacking third, Mautz struck a strong shot off the crossbar and the ball bounced out to the top of the 18. Senior Rachel Shipley was there to clean it up and one-timed a hard-driven shot top shelf.
On the opposite end of the field, senior Kristin Arnold came up with two big saves in the 22nd minute. Arnold made a diving stop on an initial shot and then came out to block the subsequent rebound shot.
Soon thereafter, A&M notched its first goal of the evening on a set piece. Young served a free kick into the six-yard box from midfield and junior Merritt Mathias finished it with one touch at the goal line to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead that would stick until the half.
Just two minutes into the second period, however, Indiana was putting pressure on the Aggies. Orianica Velasquez put a shot on frame that Arnold was able to stop by diving to her left, but the ball deflected right to Carly Samp who scored on the rebound to make the score, 3-1.
A Hoosier player was taken down in the box five minutes later and Indiana was awarded a penalty kick. Velasquez connected to bring Indiana within one goal, 3-2.
"IU went into half time down 3-0 and they came out fighting and scored because of hard work," commented Guerrieri. "Hats off to them. It wasn't one of those games that looked like it was going to be a blow out. They were in the game we just scored three great goals (in the first half)."
The Aggies appeared to score a fourth goal after a free kick in the 56th minute, but the score was waived off because of an offside call.
A&M would get its goal three minutes later when Young found Mautz on the right rise of the penalty area. Mautz slotted a pass to the feet of a running Mathias and the forward from Birmingham, Ala., managed to get off a shot that IU keeper Lindsay Campbell got a piece of, but Shipley was at the far post and one-touched the rebound into the back of the net for her second goal of the match.
The Aggies regained their three-goal lead in the 68th minute. With possession in the six-yard box, senior Kat Armstrong found senior Whitney Hooper across the goal. Hooper in turn sent the ball back to Armstrong who one-touched a shot into the back of the net for her first career goal and a 5-2 A&M lead.
"I give our players credit to be able to get our possession back and steadily be able to put it back together tonight," Guerrieri said.
Texas A&M put up dominating numbers with a 26-13 shot advantage, including 18 shots on goal to nine from the Hoosiers. Mathias led all players with six shots, all of which were on goal. Shipley added five shots with four on frame.
The Aggies play the second of a three-game road swing at Purdue on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.
