Aggies Slam McNeese State, 9-0

Monday, September 5

College Station

1:30 PM

Texas A&M

3-3-0

McNeese State

2-4-0

McNeese State

Texas A&M

Sep 05, 2011 | Soccer

Box Score

By: Texas A&M Athletics

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Freshman Annie Kunz scored her first collegiate hat trick as the Texas A&M soccer team rolled over McNeese State in a 9-0 shutout Monday at Ellis Field.

The Aggies' remaining six goals were distributed evenly through a well-rounded offense, as six A&M players scored in the match. The balanced A&M attack forced McNeese State's goalkeepers to make nine saves while freshman Renée McDermott (2-0) recorded her second-consecutive shutout of the season.

"I thought our players put on a pretty good offensive show," head coach G Guerrieri said. "It was great to see Annie Kunz get her first hat trick, and to see Shea Groom get three assists on the day. All in all, I thought our attack was good against a very organized McNeese backline. I thought that their goalkeeper made some great saves in the first half. And, really, the shots that we scored were some highlight-reel caliber goals."

The first half was played almost exclusively in the A&M offensive third. The Aggies wasted no time getting on the scoreboard after they were awarded their first free kick in the ninth minute, where freshman midfielder Katie Perry tapped the dead ball to senior Merritt Mathias who swerved a low shot around the Cowgirl wall and into the left corner of the goal to take a 1-0 lead.

Freshman forward Shea Groom then intercepted the ball on the ensuing Cowgirl kickoff and dribbled at high speed toward goal, where she dished a pass to freshman Kelley Monogue 12 yards from goal. Monogue redirected the ball toward the back post and past the McNeese goalkeeper to tally the Aggies second goal in just 20 seconds.

Monogue continued to make dangerous offensive plays, and six minutes later helped A&M to a third goal after Groom sent a cross in from the right flank toward Monogue, who headed the pass in front of the Cowgirl goal where junior midfielder Chelsea Jones was able to block a McNeese clearance. As the ball came down, Jones one-timed it into the upper left corner of the net.

As the game entered the 22nd minute, freshman Allie Bailey controlled a bouncing ball just outside the McNeese penalty area with a neat one-time pass back to an onrushing Annie Kunz, who side-footed a shot with her first touch directly past the goalkeeper and into the lower left corner of the goal for a 4-0 Aggie lead.

A&M finished off the half with another goal after redshirt junior Beth West set up the play, sending junior Nora Skelton a diagonal pass on the left wing. Skelton cut past a defender and sent the ball across the goalmouth to freshman Bianca Brinson. Brinson finished it off with a swift touch that pumped the score to 5-0 with 19 minutes left in the first half.

The Aggies led 5-0 at the halftime break, holding the Cowgirls to zero shots.

One minute into the final period, McNeese State's Cheyenne Ganley attempted the Cowgirls' only shot on goal of the match, a 30-yard shot that McDermott easily collected for her lone save on the day.

Mirroring the first half, the home team waited less than ten minutes before capitalizing on a scoring opportunity. Monogue again one-touched a shot into an open net after Skelton blazed down the left wing and slotted a pass into the six yard box for an open Monogue.

Skelton finished the match with four points, recording two assists and a goal of her own. That goal came in the 67th minute when Kunz took a hard shot, which the McNeese keeper parried away only to have Skelton pounce on the rebound and buried it in the back of the net.

Minutes later, Groom played a square pass to West approximately 18 yards from goal, where she hammered a low, hard shot that the McNeese keeper couldn't hold. Kunz found herself in the right place at the right time to pass the rebounded shot into the open net for an 8-0 lead.

Groom, a Liberty, Mo., native gave her third assist of the afternoon on A&M's final goal one minute later. Groom slid the ball to Kunz inside the penalty area, where she turned and blazed a left footed blast into the upper right corner of the goal.

This marks the second time in as many tries that the Aggies have defeated the Cowgirls, 9-0. In 2008, six A&M players also contributed goals to that decisive win.

McDermott, who missed the first 2 weeks of the season with an injury has now recorded two consecutive shutout wins in two starts for the Aggies.

Up next, the Aggies travel to Durham, N.C., to play No. 5 Duke at 3 p.m. CST on Friday, Sept. 9, before finishing the weekend against top-ranked A&M soccer rival North Carolina on Sunday at 11 a.m. CST. Both matches will be played in Duke's Koskinen Stadium.

"We've had a chance to get on a little bit of a roll before we head out of town for a really tough tournament next weekend at Duke with the Blue Devils and Tar Heels," Guerrieri said.

Both matches in Durham will feature live audio and live stats. To find links to the action, or to learn more about Texas A&M soccer, log on to AggieAthletics.com.