Friday, September 4
Tallahassee, Fla.
6:00 PM
Texas A&M
4-1-0
1
at
3
Florida State
4-1-0
1
2
F
Texas A&M
1
0
1
Florida State
0
3
3
Aggies Drop 3-1 Decision at Florida State
Sep 04, 2015 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies dropped a 3-1 decision to the No. 5 Florida State Seminoles, succumbing to a three-goal flurry in ten minutes midway through the second half.
Texas A&M (4-1-0) took advantage of a miscue by the Florida State goalkeeper Cassie Miller in the 22nd minute to draw first blood. On a defensive miscommunication, the Seminoles' were playing the ball to the backline, but nobody was home on the left flank. With Miller playing well off her line, Emily Bates wrangled the ball 35 yards out and lofted a ball over her head leading to a race to the goal. The ball bounced just outside the six-yard box and beat Miller across the line for the 1-0 lead.
The squads played on a near even keel in the first half. Florida State owned a slight edge in shots (7-6), but shots-on-goal were even at 3-3. Texas A&M took the lone corner kick of the half.
Taylor Saucier made a diving save to her right on a rocket by Megan Connolly from 18 yards out with 2:35 remaining in the first half to preserve the lead going into the intermission.
Miller had to make a pair of heroic saves on shots by Haley Pounds in the first half. Emily Bates had a pair of shots in threatening positions, going wide right from 15 yards in the 19th minute and a foot high from 18 yards in the 40th minute.
After numerous second saves by Saucier, Florida State notched an equalizer win the 67th minute. With a corner kick from the right arc, Megan Connolly sent a ball into Kirsten Crowley. Crowley's header went to the feet of Natalia Kuikka who sent it to the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1.
Florida State (4-1-0) took their first lead of the game in the 75th minute. Berglind Thorvaldsdottir scored from seven yards, charging towards the six-yard box to chase down an offering from Isabella Schmid.
The Seminoles added an insurance goal in the 77th minute. Connolly scoring from three-yards out on the reset from a short-corner attempt.
The Aggies had chances to score late in the contest but two shots by Bates and one shot by Haley Pounds were unable to find the target.
By the end of the match, Florida State owned edges in shots (22-9), shots-on-goal (10-5) and corner kicks (8-2).
Saucier made seven saves on the evening, including four in the second half. Miller made four saves in net for Florida State.
Texas A&M returns to action Sunday when the Maroon and White host the Abilene Christian Wildcats in a 6 pm contest at Ellis Field.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On this evening's match…
"It was a well-played match by Florida State. They had some very opportunistic goals, scoring off two scrambles on corner kicks and a really good finish on the second goal. I think a lot of our players battled really hard. We created some really good chances. It was a terrific goal by Emily (Bates) to get us in the lead. This is one of those games that is a great learning experience."
On the young team playing in the road environment…
"Some of the younger players played really well in this environment against a defending national champion. We need a better consistent effort across the board. But that's why we play these types of big non-conference games. It's not only an opportunity to try to get a big win, but it gets us ready for the type of competition we'll face down the road deep in the NCAA Tournament."
Texas A&M (4-1-0) took advantage of a miscue by the Florida State goalkeeper Cassie Miller in the 22nd minute to draw first blood. On a defensive miscommunication, the Seminoles' were playing the ball to the backline, but nobody was home on the left flank. With Miller playing well off her line, Emily Bates wrangled the ball 35 yards out and lofted a ball over her head leading to a race to the goal. The ball bounced just outside the six-yard box and beat Miller across the line for the 1-0 lead.
The squads played on a near even keel in the first half. Florida State owned a slight edge in shots (7-6), but shots-on-goal were even at 3-3. Texas A&M took the lone corner kick of the half.
Taylor Saucier made a diving save to her right on a rocket by Megan Connolly from 18 yards out with 2:35 remaining in the first half to preserve the lead going into the intermission.
Miller had to make a pair of heroic saves on shots by Haley Pounds in the first half. Emily Bates had a pair of shots in threatening positions, going wide right from 15 yards in the 19th minute and a foot high from 18 yards in the 40th minute.
After numerous second saves by Saucier, Florida State notched an equalizer win the 67th minute. With a corner kick from the right arc, Megan Connolly sent a ball into Kirsten Crowley. Crowley's header went to the feet of Natalia Kuikka who sent it to the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1.
Florida State (4-1-0) took their first lead of the game in the 75th minute. Berglind Thorvaldsdottir scored from seven yards, charging towards the six-yard box to chase down an offering from Isabella Schmid.
The Seminoles added an insurance goal in the 77th minute. Connolly scoring from three-yards out on the reset from a short-corner attempt.
The Aggies had chances to score late in the contest but two shots by Bates and one shot by Haley Pounds were unable to find the target.
By the end of the match, Florida State owned edges in shots (22-9), shots-on-goal (10-5) and corner kicks (8-2).
Saucier made seven saves on the evening, including four in the second half. Miller made four saves in net for Florida State.
Texas A&M returns to action Sunday when the Maroon and White host the Abilene Christian Wildcats in a 6 pm contest at Ellis Field.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On this evening's match…
"It was a well-played match by Florida State. They had some very opportunistic goals, scoring off two scrambles on corner kicks and a really good finish on the second goal. I think a lot of our players battled really hard. We created some really good chances. It was a terrific goal by Emily (Bates) to get us in the lead. This is one of those games that is a great learning experience."
On the young team playing in the road environment…
"Some of the younger players played really well in this environment against a defending national champion. We need a better consistent effort across the board. But that's why we play these types of big non-conference games. It's not only an opportunity to try to get a big win, but it gets us ready for the type of competition we'll face down the road deep in the NCAA Tournament."
Team Stats
TAMU
FS
Goals
1
3
Shots
9
22
Shots on Goal
5
10
Saves
7
4
Corners
2
8
Fouls
6
7
Scoring Plays
Bates, Emily (2)
Chip shot over goalkeeper from 35 yards
21:23
Natalia Kuikka (3)
Assisted By: Kirsten Crowley , Megan Connolly
Put away off of blocked header from 2 ya
66:19
B. Thorvaldsdottir (3)
Assisted By: Isabella Schmid , Emma Koivisto
Finish from seven yards
74:27
Megan Connolly (1)
Assisted By: Carson Pickett
Put away from 3 yards on cross pass afte
76:07
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
5
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
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
Highlights: Texas A&M 1, TCU 2
Sunday, September 07
