Texas A&M
9-7-1, 4-5-1SEC
Auburn
12-5-0, 8-2-0SEC
Aggies Topple No. 11 Auburn, 2-1
Oct 23, 2016 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies closed out the home slate with a bang, dropping the No. 11 Auburn Tigers, 2-1, Sunday evening at Ellis Field.
With both teams playing stout defense in the run of play, all three goals on the evening were scored on set pieces.
The Aggies drew first blood in the 54th minute of play. Kendall Ritchie offered up a service on a free kick 10 yards on the offensive side of the center stripe to the left of circle. She sent the ball into a meeting of the clans eight yards in front of goal. Grace Piper prevailed in the scrum sending a header inside the left post for the 1-0 lead with 36:56 remaining in the second half.
Texas A&M (9-7-1, 4-5-1 SEC) didn't have much time to bask in the glory as Auburn knotted the match at 1-1 less than a minute later. Brooke Ramsier drew a foul when she was sandwiched by a pair of Aggie defenders 25 yards from goal. On the ensuing free kick, Ramsier sent a missile that deflected off the Texas A&M wall and past goalkeeper Danielle Rice for the equalizer with 35:57 remaining in the second half.
With the match seeming destined for overtime, Emily Bates put together some fancy footwork to set up the winning goal in the 84th minute. Claudette Lassandro sent a pass to Bates 25 yards out along the touchline. Bates nutmegged the outside back and charged into the left side of the penalty box. The mercurial forward put it into another gear and surged past Karlie Gutsche. The Auburn center back was called for a foul on a late desperation tackle and the Aggies were granted the penalty kick.
Haley Pounds got the goalkeeper to guess the wrong way and put the penalty kick into the back of the net with 6:44 remaining in the second half.
The Aggie defense bowed up in the waning moments and held Auburn to just one shot in the late scurry.
Rice came up huge for the Aggies, making six saves on the evening. All three of her saves in the first half were of the highlight reel variety as she helped Texas A&M go into the intermission knotted at 0-0. She stonewalled two shots by Casie Ramsier and one from Kristen Dodson in the opening act.
Auburn defender Samantha Solaru made a brilliant play on an Aggies' 18th minute corner kick to keep A&M off the scoreboard. Pounds sent the ball into the six-yard box from the left side where she found the head of Piper at the far post. Piper sent it diagonally to the near post, but Solaru reacted quickly to head the ball off the goal line and Auburn was able to clear it from danger.
The loss snapped Auburn's program-best seven-match win streak and dashed the Tigers' SEC regular-season title hopes as they stand at 12-5-0 overall and 8-2-0 in league play. With one match left on the league slate, South Carolina (10-0-0 SEC) clinched the league crown.
Texas A&M clinched a spot in the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach. The Aggies leaped over Ole Miss and Alabama and into eighth place in the standings.
The Aggies wrap up the regular-season Thursday as they travel to Starkville for a 7 p.m. match against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On putting the winless streak behind them…
"It's funny what confidence you get from a dramatic win like we had on Thursday. This was a great effort again tonight to get a victory against a top 10-level team. Auburn was on a seven-game winning streak, the longest in their program's history and you can see why. They play well and have some real great athletes on the field and they really play with some good composure. It took a lot for us to keep the game in front of us and to be able to break on the chances that we had."
On Danielle Rice saving three potential Auburn goals in the first half...
"Dani Rice was magnificent in her last game at Ellis Field. She was special. Auburn is great at putting together little passes that find the gaps. The Ramsier sisters do a fantastic job with it and (Kristen) Dodson up front is a handful and she makes it that more difficult on us. It feels real good to keep a great attacking team in check."
Junior forward Haley Pounds
On the penalty kick goal…
"We've been practicing penalty kicks all week. I was a little nervous going up there because of what was on the line. But, I felt pretty confident. I knew where I was going to place it and was able to execute and get the goal."
On Emily Bates…
"She's a huge asset. She is always creating chances for our team. All the credit goes to her for drawing that foul in the box and setting up that PK for me."
Sophomore defender Kendall Ritchie
On the second half play…
"We really picked it up in the second half. We felt really strong. This was probably our strongest second half we have had all season."
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Team Stats
Piper, Grace (4)
Assisted By: Ritchie, Kendall
header in the six yard box off a free ki
53:04
Brooke Ramsier (4)
Free kick from 20 yards
54:03
Pounds, Haley (7)
TAMU Pounds, Haley PENALTY KICK GOAL, goal number 7 for season.
83:16
