Aggies Fall in SEC Tournament Quarterfinal

Wednesday, November 2

Orange Beach, Ala.

5:00 PM

Texas A&M

11-8-1, 5-5-1SEC

South Carolina

18-0-1, 11-0-0SEC

Texas A&M

South Carolina

Nov 02, 2016 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score - SC 2, A&M 1

ORANGE BEACH, Alabama – The Texas A&M Aggies dropped a 2-1 decision to the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks in an SEC Tournament quarterfinal match at Orange Beach Sportsplex.

The Maroon and White drew first blood in the match, but were unable to make it stand as SEC Offensive Player of the Year Savannah McCaskill broke through with a pair of second half goals.

Emily Bates broke the scoring seal in the 24^th minute. The goal was set up when Haley Pounds and Kendall Ritchie worked a give-and-go 35 yards out. An unmarked Ritchie threaded a diagonal through ball that found a charging Bates two yards right of the penalty spot and she beat the keeper for the 1-0 lead.

The Aggies were the first team to own a halftime lead against South Carolina and the Maroon and White held the lead for 24 minutes against a team that trailed just 85 seconds all season heading into the match.

McCaskill's first goal came in the 58^th minute. A long header by Kaleigh Kurtz found McCaskill and she was able to chip it over Aggie goalkeeper Danielle Rice for the equalizer.

South Carolina claimed the lead in the 65^th minute. Gamecocks' goalkeeper Mikayla Krzeczowski sent a long pass to a charging McCaskill down the center of the pitch and she found herself in an enviable position, ripping the game-winner from distance.

Rice kept the Aggies in the match early with a pair of spectacular saves. In the 11^th minute she stonewalled McCaskill from eight yards out and the following shot by Daija Griffin hit the post and trickled out of bounds. In the 12^th minute, Rice went horizontal to make a save on a shot by Sophie Groff.

Texas A&M had an opportunity to tie the game twice late, but Krzeczowski made game-saving stops on shots by Pounds in the 79^th minute and Bates in the 81^st minute.

The Aggies send an 11-8-1 resume to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee and await word on a possible bid. The tournament field will be revealed on Monday at 3:30 p.m. Central on NCAA.com.

TEXAS A&M QUOTES

Head Coach G Guerrieri

On the match…

"I'm disappointed for our girls because they played with a lot of heart. To be up on the hottest team in the country like nobody else has for most of the match was a great start. We weren't able to finish. Maybe that is because we played a double overtime match a day and a half ago, but you have to take your hat off to South Carolina. They found a way. Their superstar got it done. They are heckuva a team and a great representative for the conference. We wish them the best going forward."

On what the team showed the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee…

"I think down the stretch when we got our injured players back in the lineup we showed how dangerous we could be. We are 11-3 when we have our regular lineup. We just played the No. 2 team in the country better than anyone else has. I hope the committee takes into account how good we have been and how well we have played against the best teams in the country. I don't think we would disappoint anyone with our selection."