Friday, November 13
College Station
7:00 PM
Texas A&M
16-6-1
2
vs
1
Washington
12-7-2
1
2
F
Washington
0
1
1
Texas A&M
1
1
2
Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics
Aggies Advance with 2-1 Win Over Washington
Nov 13, 2015 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies scored a 2-1 victory over the Washington Huskies in NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship First Round action Friday night at Ellis Field.
With the win, the Aggies advanced past their first NCAA test for the 18th consecutive season, going 16-0-2 with two penalty kick advances over the span.
Texas A&M (16-6-1) opened up the scoring midway through the first half. Haley Pounds sent a ball into Kate Hajdu five yards inside the right elbow of the penalty box. Eight yards on the right out Hajdu poked a shot through the legs of an approaching defender and under Washington goalkeeper Megan Kufeld, diving to the left for the 1-0 lead. Hajdu, who scored three goals in the first three games of the season, snapped a 19-match scoreless streak for her fourth marker of the season.
The Aggies went into the intermission with the 1-0 lead despite Washington owning slight edges in shots (8-7) and a 5-2 margin in corner kicks.
The Maroon and White inflated the cushion to 2-0 in the 53rd minute. Standing inside the center circle, Ashlynn Harryman boomed a pass over a back-pedaling Huskies' backline. The service skipped off the head of a defender to Pounds who chested it to her feet and found nobody between herself and the goal, but Kufeld. Pounds sent a left-footer to the left of Kufeld into the back of the net.
Washington would not wilt and they trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the 67th minute. Pascale Dumesnil possessed the ball 30 yards out and sent a beautiful diagonal pass to Kelcie Hedge on a charge into the right side of the penalty box. After sending in her offering, Dumesnil bolted on a run into the left side of the box. Hedge beat her marker at the right corner of the six-yard box and sent a pass across the face of the goal, finding and unmarked Dumesnil who one-timed it home near the left post for her second goal of the season.
The Huskies kept the pressure up with a corner kicks and two shots in the 78th and 79th minutes, but they were unable to find the night. Texas A&M weathered a few harrowing moments in the final minute when the ball rattled around the penalty box for several seconds, but Washington was unable to unleash a shot.
For the match, Texas A&M owned the edge in shots (18-13) and shots-on-goal (5-3). The Huskies owned a 9-8 edge in corner kicks.
The match marked the Aggies' 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, an active string only matched by North Carolina (34), Notre Dame (23), Virginia (22) and Penn State (21). The Huskies were making their 14th overall tournament appearance.
Texas A&M returns to action on Friday, November 20 when they play the North Carolina Tar Heels in a second round contest. The game will either be played in Clemson, South Carolina (if Clemson beats Furman on Saturday) or in Chapel Hill.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
TEXAS A&M
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On Tonight's Win…
"It's obviously a cool feeling to be able win in the NCAA Tournament and to know that you're going to move on. Really, really proud of our players because I thought Washington was outstanding tonight. Lesle [Gallimore] has got them playing a style that is really hard to play against. I thought we dodged several bullets tonight."
On Karlie Mueller's Last Night at Ellis...
"This is Karlie's 90th game playing for Texas A&M. She's been very influential in the development of our young players."
Freshman midfielder Kate Hajdu
On her goal…
"I've been working on trying to get forward into the attack. I'm more of a player that likes to pass so Haley [Pounds] made a great check off of her player, so I found her and got the ball back from behind and I put it away."
On her mentality since her fast start…
"Freshman year was a big transition year and I felt like over the season I started off really strong because I was excited, and my intensity was high. Then with school and everything, the pressure started to build and I kind of got a little lost in my way. Towards the end of the season I started to find my way, building up towards getting a goal."
Junior defender Ashlynn Harryman
On her assist…
"Haley [Pounds] is really good and she called my name. I heard her screaming for my name so it allowed for me to locate her and realize where she was. Then I just took a touch and tried to aim for her. Good thing it got there, and she controlled it really well because it wasn't the easiest ball that I gave her."
On the last minutes of the game:
"We've talked about this a lot in practice and Coach G and Phil [Stephenson] have always told us to step to them when they get the ball and make sure they don't get a cross off. Most times teams are very dangerous on crosses. As for as blocking shots, you just put your foot out there and you kind of know their body position and if they're going to shoot it so it kind of helps you read the game."
WASHINGTON
Head Coach Lesle Gallimore
Opening comments…
"It never feels good to lose. We knew we had a tall order coming in here to play A&M on their home field. At the same time, I thought we hung in there. We knew we had to be really good defensively to keep them out of the back of their net. The first goal we gave up came from their good attacking speed. They have really dynamic players up front and are a little hard to handle. I thought we kept after it, and that's been the sign of our team all year. We just keep playing."
"We could have been more dangerous on frame. We just didn't have somebody on their shoulders, beating people and getting shots off. Credit to Texas A&M. They're a good team and have a lot of good athletes on their team. Our best just wasn't good enough on the day."
On tonight's performance…
"When you give up bad goals and take a bit of a knock from a bad loss, maybe it hurts your confidence a little bit. I think our kids and coaching staff tried to power through that. They came out tonight with good energy and put up a good fight against a very, very good team. This is a tough first round draw. We have a lot of respect for Texas A&M and what they do down here."
With the win, the Aggies advanced past their first NCAA test for the 18th consecutive season, going 16-0-2 with two penalty kick advances over the span.
Texas A&M (16-6-1) opened up the scoring midway through the first half. Haley Pounds sent a ball into Kate Hajdu five yards inside the right elbow of the penalty box. Eight yards on the right out Hajdu poked a shot through the legs of an approaching defender and under Washington goalkeeper Megan Kufeld, diving to the left for the 1-0 lead. Hajdu, who scored three goals in the first three games of the season, snapped a 19-match scoreless streak for her fourth marker of the season.
The Aggies went into the intermission with the 1-0 lead despite Washington owning slight edges in shots (8-7) and a 5-2 margin in corner kicks.
The Maroon and White inflated the cushion to 2-0 in the 53rd minute. Standing inside the center circle, Ashlynn Harryman boomed a pass over a back-pedaling Huskies' backline. The service skipped off the head of a defender to Pounds who chested it to her feet and found nobody between herself and the goal, but Kufeld. Pounds sent a left-footer to the left of Kufeld into the back of the net.
Washington would not wilt and they trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the 67th minute. Pascale Dumesnil possessed the ball 30 yards out and sent a beautiful diagonal pass to Kelcie Hedge on a charge into the right side of the penalty box. After sending in her offering, Dumesnil bolted on a run into the left side of the box. Hedge beat her marker at the right corner of the six-yard box and sent a pass across the face of the goal, finding and unmarked Dumesnil who one-timed it home near the left post for her second goal of the season.
The Huskies kept the pressure up with a corner kicks and two shots in the 78th and 79th minutes, but they were unable to find the night. Texas A&M weathered a few harrowing moments in the final minute when the ball rattled around the penalty box for several seconds, but Washington was unable to unleash a shot.
For the match, Texas A&M owned the edge in shots (18-13) and shots-on-goal (5-3). The Huskies owned a 9-8 edge in corner kicks.
The match marked the Aggies' 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, an active string only matched by North Carolina (34), Notre Dame (23), Virginia (22) and Penn State (21). The Huskies were making their 14th overall tournament appearance.
Texas A&M returns to action on Friday, November 20 when they play the North Carolina Tar Heels in a second round contest. The game will either be played in Clemson, South Carolina (if Clemson beats Furman on Saturday) or in Chapel Hill.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
TEXAS A&M
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On Tonight's Win…
"It's obviously a cool feeling to be able win in the NCAA Tournament and to know that you're going to move on. Really, really proud of our players because I thought Washington was outstanding tonight. Lesle [Gallimore] has got them playing a style that is really hard to play against. I thought we dodged several bullets tonight."
On Karlie Mueller's Last Night at Ellis...
"This is Karlie's 90th game playing for Texas A&M. She's been very influential in the development of our young players."
Freshman midfielder Kate Hajdu
On her goal…
"I've been working on trying to get forward into the attack. I'm more of a player that likes to pass so Haley [Pounds] made a great check off of her player, so I found her and got the ball back from behind and I put it away."
On her mentality since her fast start…
"Freshman year was a big transition year and I felt like over the season I started off really strong because I was excited, and my intensity was high. Then with school and everything, the pressure started to build and I kind of got a little lost in my way. Towards the end of the season I started to find my way, building up towards getting a goal."
Junior defender Ashlynn Harryman
On her assist…
"Haley [Pounds] is really good and she called my name. I heard her screaming for my name so it allowed for me to locate her and realize where she was. Then I just took a touch and tried to aim for her. Good thing it got there, and she controlled it really well because it wasn't the easiest ball that I gave her."
On the last minutes of the game:
"We've talked about this a lot in practice and Coach G and Phil [Stephenson] have always told us to step to them when they get the ball and make sure they don't get a cross off. Most times teams are very dangerous on crosses. As for as blocking shots, you just put your foot out there and you kind of know their body position and if they're going to shoot it so it kind of helps you read the game."
WASHINGTON
Head Coach Lesle Gallimore
Opening comments…
"It never feels good to lose. We knew we had a tall order coming in here to play A&M on their home field. At the same time, I thought we hung in there. We knew we had to be really good defensively to keep them out of the back of their net. The first goal we gave up came from their good attacking speed. They have really dynamic players up front and are a little hard to handle. I thought we kept after it, and that's been the sign of our team all year. We just keep playing."
"We could have been more dangerous on frame. We just didn't have somebody on their shoulders, beating people and getting shots off. Credit to Texas A&M. They're a good team and have a lot of good athletes on their team. Our best just wasn't good enough on the day."
On tonight's performance…
"When you give up bad goals and take a bit of a knock from a bad loss, maybe it hurts your confidence a little bit. I think our kids and coaching staff tried to power through that. They came out tonight with good energy and put up a good fight against a very, very good team. This is a tough first round draw. We have a lot of respect for Texas A&M and what they do down here."
Team Stats
WASH
TAMU
Goals
1
2
Shots
13
18
Shots on Goal
3
5
Saves
3
2
Corners
9
8
Fouls
14
15
Scoring Plays
Hajdu, Kate (4)
Assisted By: Pounds, Haley
Shot from 8 yards on the right pushed to
23:24
Pounds, Haley (13)
Assisted By: Harryman, Ashlynn
Left-footer from 7 yds, left of keeper,
52:49
Dumesnil, Pascale (2)
Assisted By: Hedge, Kelcie
From six yards out at left post, pass ac
66:29
Game Leaders
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
1
lam
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
6
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Weekly Press Conference: G Guerrieri
Thursday, October 23
The Aggie Soccer Hour (Ep 7)
Wednesday, October 22
Mizzou Postgame: G Guerrieri, Bella Yakel, Kaylee Noble
Thursday, October 16
Highlights: Texas A&M 2, Missouri 1
Thursday, October 16
