ORANGE BEACH, Alabama – The Texas A&M Aggies came up short in a bid to win their third consecutive SEC Tournament championship, falling to the Florida Gators, 2-1, in the title match Sunday afternoon at Orange Beach Sportsplex.
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Despite dictating the flow of play in the first half, Texas A&M was doomed by a pair of Gators' set pieces as Florida went into the intermission with a 2-1 lead. The Gators converted on a corner kick in the 29th minute and scored on a free kick in the 43rd minute. Florida scored two goals on just three first-half shots. Texas A&M owned the first-half shot advantage, 7-3, but Gators' goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese made three first-half saves.
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Texas A&M (15-6-1) drew first blood in the 22nd minute with beautiful possession around the penalty box. With the Aggies on a 3-on-2 attack, Mikaela Harvey controlled the ball at the top of the box and sent a pass to Emily Bates on the left. Bates charged towards the goal before chipping a pass off the Haley Pounds on the right. With the Florida keeper drawn out of position, Pounds struck a left-footed strike into the left-upper 90 for the 1-0 lead.
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After not recording a shot in the first 28:38, Florida evened the match with a corner kick. Christen Westphal sent the offering in from the left arc. The service found a piece of Savannah Jordan before Brooke Sharp sent a volley in from 15 yards.
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Florida (17-3-1) snatched the lead with 2:48 remaining in the first half. The Gators were granted a free kick from 20 yards out with Westphal putting a shot over the wall into the net for the 2-1 lead.
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In the second half the rain and high winds arrived, dampening Texas A&M's comeback bid. The Aggies were able to must three second half shots, but only one on frame.
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For the match, the Aggies owned the advantages in shots (10-7) and shots-on-goal (5-4). Florida owned a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.
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Texas A&M now awaits word on an NCAA Championship assignment. The selection show is slated for Monday at 3:30 pm Central on NCAA.com.
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2015 SEC Women's Soccer Tournament All-Tournament Team
Kala Faulkner, Auburn
Brooke Ramsier, Auburn
Alex Arlitt, LSU
Natalia Gomez Junco, LSU
Emily Bates, Texas A&M
Mikaela Harvey, Texas A&M
Ally Watt, Texas A&M
Savannah Jordan, Florida
Claire Falknor, Florida
Christen Westphal, Florida
Meggie Dougherty Howard, Florida
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TEXAS A&M QUOTES
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Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the match…
That's a tough result for us, but you have to give a lot of credit to Florida. They played well, and despite us creating a number of pretty good scoring chances, we didn't hit the target and they were super in finishing their set pieces.
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On the squad…
I'm proud of the fight in our young team. This will be a hard lesson to learn, but we will improve from it. So now we will head home and await tomorrow's NCAA Championship assignment.
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Despite dictating the flow of play in the first half, Texas A&M was doomed by a pair of Gators' set pieces as Florida went into the intermission with a 2-1 lead. The Gators converted on a corner kick in the 29th minute and scored on a free kick in the 43rd minute. Florida scored two goals on just three first-half shots. Texas A&M owned the first-half shot advantage, 7-3, but Gators' goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese made three first-half saves.
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Texas A&M (15-6-1) drew first blood in the 22nd minute with beautiful possession around the penalty box. With the Aggies on a 3-on-2 attack, Mikaela Harvey controlled the ball at the top of the box and sent a pass to Emily Bates on the left. Bates charged towards the goal before chipping a pass off the Haley Pounds on the right. With the Florida keeper drawn out of position, Pounds struck a left-footed strike into the left-upper 90 for the 1-0 lead.
Â
After not recording a shot in the first 28:38, Florida evened the match with a corner kick. Christen Westphal sent the offering in from the left arc. The service found a piece of Savannah Jordan before Brooke Sharp sent a volley in from 15 yards.
Â
Florida (17-3-1) snatched the lead with 2:48 remaining in the first half. The Gators were granted a free kick from 20 yards out with Westphal putting a shot over the wall into the net for the 2-1 lead.
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In the second half the rain and high winds arrived, dampening Texas A&M's comeback bid. The Aggies were able to must three second half shots, but only one on frame.
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For the match, the Aggies owned the advantages in shots (10-7) and shots-on-goal (5-4). Florida owned a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.
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Texas A&M now awaits word on an NCAA Championship assignment. The selection show is slated for Monday at 3:30 pm Central on NCAA.com.
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2015 SEC Women's Soccer Tournament All-Tournament Team
Kala Faulkner, Auburn
Brooke Ramsier, Auburn
Alex Arlitt, LSU
Natalia Gomez Junco, LSU
Emily Bates, Texas A&M
Mikaela Harvey, Texas A&M
Ally Watt, Texas A&M
Savannah Jordan, Florida
Claire Falknor, Florida
Christen Westphal, Florida
Meggie Dougherty Howard, Florida
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TEXAS A&M QUOTES
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Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the match…
That's a tough result for us, but you have to give a lot of credit to Florida. They played well, and despite us creating a number of pretty good scoring chances, we didn't hit the target and they were super in finishing their set pieces.
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On the squad…
I'm proud of the fight in our young team. This will be a hard lesson to learn, but we will improve from it. So now we will head home and await tomorrow's NCAA Championship assignment.