Sunday, October 25
College Station
6:00 PM
Texas A&M
13-5-0, 6-4-0
3
vs
4
Ole Miss
13-3-2, 7-3-0
1
2
F
Ole Miss
2
2
4
Texas A&M
1
2
3
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Aggies Fall to Ole Miss, 4-3
Oct 25, 2015 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 23 Aggies wrangled the lead from Ole Miss in the 63rd minute, but the No. 13 Rebels retaliated with two goals in a span of 71 seconds to topple Texas A&M, 4-3, at Ellis Field Sunday night.
After Sunday's matches, the race for the SEC regular-season title was whittled down to three teams. Florida and Missouri enter Thursday's matches tied for first place with 22 points at 7-2-1 in league play. Ole Miss remains one point back with 21 points on a 7-3-0 SEC record. The Aggies, two-time defending champions, were eliminated from title contention. It marks the first time in their four seasons in the SEC that Texas A&M will enter the last match of the season without a chance to claim a share of the regular-season crown.
The Aggies trailed 2-1 coming out of the intermission, but had the wind in their sails as gusts of over 20 MPH were at their backs in the second half.
The Maroon and White equalized the match in the 54th minute as Ally Watt raced into the penalty box with the ball down the right side and was taken down by an Ole Miss defender for the foul. Haley Pounds converted on the penalty kick for her 10th goal of the season, knotting the match at 2-2.
Less than 10 minutes later, Texas A&M (13-5-0, 6-4-0 SEC) claimed the lead with 27:04 remaining in the second half. Pounds launched an in-swinging corner kick from the left arc, using the wind to bend it off the far post for her second goal of the match and the 3-2 Aggie advantage.
With the wind at their backs Texas A&M appeared headed towards a victory, but Ole Miss found its rhythm and struck gold twice in a 71 second span. With 20:24 remaining in the second half, CeCe Kizer sent a shot in from near the penalty spot to finish off a series of passes that found the feet of Harknett, Addie Forbus and Jennifer Miller before the final passes was slipped through the defense to find Kizer on the run.
Kizer added her second goal of the match with 19:13 remaining in the second half. Miller and Forbus once again served as adds on the tally as this time Kizer finished from eight yards out.
The Aggies made a furious attempt to tie the match in the waning moments, but none of their final four shots found the target.
Ole Miss (13-3-2) drew first blood early in the match. Gretchen Harknett took a pass from Bethany Bunker at the top of the penalty box and sent a shot off the left post from 17 yards out, staking Ole Miss to a 1-0 lead 1:50 into the match.
With 25 minutes remaining in the first half, Mikaela Harvey tied the game with a right-footer from 20 yards out. The mercurial sophomore intercepted a pass in the Ole Miss defensive third and raced towards the penalty box. She uncorked a shot from two yards right of the penalty arc, sending a missile into the left upper 90 to tie the game at 1-1.
The Rebels' reclaimed the lead in the 23rd minute. Olivia Harrison settled the ball outside the penalty box on the left and slotted a diagonal ball to Addie Forbus who used her left foot to knock the ball off the right post from six yards out for the 2-1 advantage.
The Aggies owned the advantage in shots (17-14), shots-on-goal (9-4) and corner kicks (5-3), but Ole Miss's Marnie Merritt made five saves and defender Jessica Hiskey recorded a team save in the fifth minute of the game when Harvey unleashed a howitzer from 10 yards that got past the keeper but found Hiskey on the line.
The loss snapped a 14-match home win streak for the Aggies and a 17-match unbeaten string.
Texas A&M returns to action on Thursday when they travel to Columbia for an 8 pm contest against Missouri. The Aggies will have a chance to rain on the Tigers' title aspirations and will jostle for seeding position at next week's SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On Ole Miss's second half goals…
"They were open to shoot. There were two services into the box where we opted not to mark anybody and let them go ahead and score. That's just not good enough, which we have to improve on. That's too bad because our back four had been really strong. But you've got to give Ole Miss credit. They did a great job. They set up some good goals. They finished off the first two goals, which both basically clinked off the post and went in… two quality goals. The two passes in the box was something that un-did us in the second half."
On having the wind at their backs in the second half…
"We went into halftime thinking that we had weathered the storm and that we could come out and really play, which we did. We had some good chances. Many chances that they (Ole Miss) would have finished that we didn't finish today." On the loss…
Sophomore forward Haley Pounds
On the loss...
"It's a disappointing loss. We came into this with a lot of confidence and thought we could pull it off. This was a back and forth game and to not get the win was disappointing."
On the second half…
"The second half I think we played a lot better, we had the wind at our backs. We were able to play forward a little bit more and passes more. Defensively we weren't as good tonight."
On the corner kick goal…
"(Coach) G was telling me to practice my in-swing corners before the game so it was good to get a goal on that. We could have held the ball better in the end to prevent the last two goals."
After Sunday's matches, the race for the SEC regular-season title was whittled down to three teams. Florida and Missouri enter Thursday's matches tied for first place with 22 points at 7-2-1 in league play. Ole Miss remains one point back with 21 points on a 7-3-0 SEC record. The Aggies, two-time defending champions, were eliminated from title contention. It marks the first time in their four seasons in the SEC that Texas A&M will enter the last match of the season without a chance to claim a share of the regular-season crown.
The Aggies trailed 2-1 coming out of the intermission, but had the wind in their sails as gusts of over 20 MPH were at their backs in the second half.
The Maroon and White equalized the match in the 54th minute as Ally Watt raced into the penalty box with the ball down the right side and was taken down by an Ole Miss defender for the foul. Haley Pounds converted on the penalty kick for her 10th goal of the season, knotting the match at 2-2.
Less than 10 minutes later, Texas A&M (13-5-0, 6-4-0 SEC) claimed the lead with 27:04 remaining in the second half. Pounds launched an in-swinging corner kick from the left arc, using the wind to bend it off the far post for her second goal of the match and the 3-2 Aggie advantage.
With the wind at their backs Texas A&M appeared headed towards a victory, but Ole Miss found its rhythm and struck gold twice in a 71 second span. With 20:24 remaining in the second half, CeCe Kizer sent a shot in from near the penalty spot to finish off a series of passes that found the feet of Harknett, Addie Forbus and Jennifer Miller before the final passes was slipped through the defense to find Kizer on the run.
Kizer added her second goal of the match with 19:13 remaining in the second half. Miller and Forbus once again served as adds on the tally as this time Kizer finished from eight yards out.
The Aggies made a furious attempt to tie the match in the waning moments, but none of their final four shots found the target.
Ole Miss (13-3-2) drew first blood early in the match. Gretchen Harknett took a pass from Bethany Bunker at the top of the penalty box and sent a shot off the left post from 17 yards out, staking Ole Miss to a 1-0 lead 1:50 into the match.
With 25 minutes remaining in the first half, Mikaela Harvey tied the game with a right-footer from 20 yards out. The mercurial sophomore intercepted a pass in the Ole Miss defensive third and raced towards the penalty box. She uncorked a shot from two yards right of the penalty arc, sending a missile into the left upper 90 to tie the game at 1-1.
The Rebels' reclaimed the lead in the 23rd minute. Olivia Harrison settled the ball outside the penalty box on the left and slotted a diagonal ball to Addie Forbus who used her left foot to knock the ball off the right post from six yards out for the 2-1 advantage.
The Aggies owned the advantage in shots (17-14), shots-on-goal (9-4) and corner kicks (5-3), but Ole Miss's Marnie Merritt made five saves and defender Jessica Hiskey recorded a team save in the fifth minute of the game when Harvey unleashed a howitzer from 10 yards that got past the keeper but found Hiskey on the line.
The loss snapped a 14-match home win streak for the Aggies and a 17-match unbeaten string.
Texas A&M returns to action on Thursday when they travel to Columbia for an 8 pm contest against Missouri. The Aggies will have a chance to rain on the Tigers' title aspirations and will jostle for seeding position at next week's SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On Ole Miss's second half goals…
"They were open to shoot. There were two services into the box where we opted not to mark anybody and let them go ahead and score. That's just not good enough, which we have to improve on. That's too bad because our back four had been really strong. But you've got to give Ole Miss credit. They did a great job. They set up some good goals. They finished off the first two goals, which both basically clinked off the post and went in… two quality goals. The two passes in the box was something that un-did us in the second half."
On having the wind at their backs in the second half…
"We went into halftime thinking that we had weathered the storm and that we could come out and really play, which we did. We had some good chances. Many chances that they (Ole Miss) would have finished that we didn't finish today." On the loss…
Sophomore forward Haley Pounds
On the loss...
"It's a disappointing loss. We came into this with a lot of confidence and thought we could pull it off. This was a back and forth game and to not get the win was disappointing."
On the second half…
"The second half I think we played a lot better, we had the wind at our backs. We were able to play forward a little bit more and passes more. Defensively we weren't as good tonight."
On the corner kick goal…
"(Coach) G was telling me to practice my in-swing corners before the game so it was good to get a goal on that. We could have held the ball better in the end to prevent the last two goals."
Team Stats
OM
TAMU
Goals
4
3
Shots
14
17
Shots on Goal
4
9
Saves
6
0
Corners
3
5
Fouls
6
6
Scoring Plays
Gretchen Harknett (4)
Assisted By: Bethany Bunker
Shot from top of box at 17 yards out to
1:55
Harvey, Mikaela (6)
Right-footer from 20 yards out, right of
20:00
Addie Forbus (11)
Assisted By: Olivia Harrison
Diagonal pass from left knocked in with
22:24
Pounds, Haley (10)
TAMU Pounds, Haley PENALTY KICK GOAL, goal number 10 for season.
53:40
Pounds, Haley (11)
Bent in corner kick from left arc to far
62:56
CeCe Kizer (13)
Assisted By: Jennifer Miller , Addie Forbus
Knocked in near penalty spot
69:36
CeCe Kizer (14)
Assisted By: Addie Forbus , Jennifer Miller
Through pass to eight yards out on the r
70:47
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
4
SOG
3
Goals
2
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
The Aggie Soccer Hour (Ep 4)
Wednesday, September 24
The Aggie Soccer Hour (Extra)
Wednesday, September 17
The Aggie Soccer Hour (Ep 3)
Wednesday, September 10
Weekly Press Conference: G Guerrieri
Monday, September 08
