Texas A&M
1-1
UC Irvine
2-0
No. 11 Aggies Fall to No. 17 UC Irvine
Aug 21, 2011 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 11 Texas A&M soccer team (1-1) outshot 17th-ranked UC Irvine 21-5, but couldn't get one across as the Aggies fell, 1-0, to the Anteaters (2-0).
"When you outshoot a team 4-1, you've got a good example of 'everything counts'," head coach G Guerrieri said. "The other team gets a chance, we don't do everything we can to keep it out of the back of the net, it goes in. We get so many chances and we just don't quite finish them off. It's one of those things that you wish you had another chance, but you don't. You've just got to learn from it and get better as we play a team that's probably better than this one in Florida on Friday night."
UCI netted the lone goal of the match in the eighth minute when Lexi Kopf scooted a sideways shot into the frame on a pass from Dana Sanderlin.
The Aggies held possession for much of the match and looked to retaliate in the 20th minute. Sophomore Rachel Lenz took a free kick after senior Merritt Mathias was fouled. Freshman Annie Kunz got her head on Lenz's lob in the box, but her shot was thwarted by UCI goalie Jennifer Randazzo.
Freshman Kelley Monogue gave Randazzo another fight in the 37th minute when she collected a pass from freshman Leigh Edwards and sent a laser toward the net for a shot on goal.
The Aggies had 21 shots on the match and only allowed five by the Anteaters. The home team also posted a 7-to-3 shots-on-goal advantage. Mathias led the team with three shots on frame, while freshman Bianca Brinson took a game-leading seven shots and placed two on frame.
Brinson's first big goal attempt came in the 66th minute on a cross from Mathias. The Austin, Texas, native's kick from seven yards caused a diving save by Randazzo.
In the 71st minute, Brinson again caused panic on the defense when she rebounded her own blocked shot and forced another save from point-blank range.
Freshman Meghan Streight missed by an inch in the 68th minute when her header off of a corner kick by Mathias just grazed the crossbar and bounced out.
The physical battle took its toll when UCI's Judy Christopher took Mathias down hard at midfield and was given a yellow card. The Anteaters picked up nine fouls overall.
The Aggies even their season record at 1-1, while freshman Jordan Day also picks up a 1-1 mark after 90 minutes in goal. Randazzo improved to 2-0 on the season as the Aggies forced seven saves.
A&M will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., next weekend to face No. 8 Florida at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Tennessee at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Both times are central. To learn more about Texas A&M soccer, log on to AggieAthletics.com.
Team Stats
Kopf, Lexi (2)
Assisted By: Sanderlin, Dana
shot from 6 yds. into R corner of net. A
7:30
