Sunday, September 23
College Station
6 p.m.
Texas A&M
11-1-0, 2-1-0SEC
2
vs
0
Georgia
4-4-3, 1-1-1SEC
1
2
F
Georgia
0
0
0
Texas A&M
2
0
2
Photo by: Spencer Gnauck/Texas A&M Athletics
Aggies Blank Georgia, 2-0
Sep 23, 2018 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 2 Texas A&M Aggies rebounded from their first loss of the season with a 2-0 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs Sunday evening at Ellis Field.
As they have done all season, the Aggies wreaked havoc on set pieces. With goals of a free kick and corner kick on Sunday, 17 of Texas A&M's 33 goals have come on set pieces in 2018.
The Maroon & White scored on a free kick in the third minute with Kendall Ritchie finding Grace Piper in the six-yard box for Piper's fourth goal of the season. Texas A&M converted a corner kick in the 34th minute when Addie McCain sent a short offering out to Ritchie outside the left corner of the penalty box and Ritchie sent a missile into the right upper 90 for her third goal of the season.
With the victory, the Aggies (11-1-0, 2-1-0 SEC) leaped over three teams into second place in the SEC standings with six points. Texas A&M is one of six teams tied for second place, three points behind first-place Vanderbilt (3-0-0 SEC). Georgia moved to 4-4-3 on the year and 1-1-1 in SEC action.
The Aggies turned in another clean sheet, recording their ninth shutout of the season. Cosette Morché made one save to increase her shutout numbers to nine on the season, 17 in two years in College Station and 23 in her four seasons as a Division I keeper.
The Maroon & White scored multiple goals for the 13th consecutive match, extending the school record. The run eclipses the school record of 11 set from October 15, 1994 to September 8, 1995.
With the win, Texas A&M is guaranteed a winning record for the 26th consecutive season. The closest the Maroon & White have finished to the .500 mark is the 12-8-2 (.591) they posted in an injury-plagued 2016 campaign.
The Aggies extended their home win streak to nine games and improved to 25-1-1 over their last 27 games.
Texas A&M owned wide margins in shots (20-11), shots-on-goal (9-1) and corner kicks (8-1).
GOAL SUMMARY
3' – Ritchie sent a free kick in from 40 yards out, 10 yards off the right touchline. While the keeper's attention was drawn to Jimena López who was into the six-yard box trying for a header. The ball got over López's head, but Piper was able to redirect the ball with her right foot before it hit the ground, sending it between the keeper and the right post. A&M 1, UGA 0.
34' – On a corner kick from the left side, McCain sent a ball out to Ritchie unmarked at the left corner of the penalty box. Ritchie sent a missile into the right upper 90 for the insurance goal. A&M 2, UGA 0.
UP NEXT
The Aggies head to Oxford on Friday for a 7 p.m. match against the Ole Miss Rebels.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the pressure relieved by having an early goal...
"Once we scored the first one you could see almost a bit of an exhale by the team, and then they really played well in a lot of different phases in the game today."
On Kendall Ritchie's goal and assist...
"It's just like the ball that she scored against Arkansas on Thursday, except that this one was moving when she struck it. She is clearly one of our more dangerous weapons. I think people around the country are learning that she's got as lethal a foot as anyone in America right now. The first goal, she puts it into a dangerous spot, which puts a very good goalkeeper from Georgia into a perilous situation where it's chaos in front of her, and it's hard for her to deal with that. One of the things we knew about Georgia coming in is that they have an excellent young freshman goalkeeper who is very good at shot-stopping, so it was going to take something good. We had two other breakaways that she made good saves on.
Senior defender Kendall Ritchie
On bouncing back from previous game's loss...
"Thursday was a hard loss. We didn't have our best game. We really knew we had to bounce back today. Getting on the board first was a really big goal for us, and I think it set the tone for the rest of the game."
On the overall game...
"We felt really good and really strong. Our defense was very connected tonight, midfield all the way up to forwards. We just worked really hard for each other, and we wanted to make a point to show who we are again."
As they have done all season, the Aggies wreaked havoc on set pieces. With goals of a free kick and corner kick on Sunday, 17 of Texas A&M's 33 goals have come on set pieces in 2018.
The Maroon & White scored on a free kick in the third minute with Kendall Ritchie finding Grace Piper in the six-yard box for Piper's fourth goal of the season. Texas A&M converted a corner kick in the 34th minute when Addie McCain sent a short offering out to Ritchie outside the left corner of the penalty box and Ritchie sent a missile into the right upper 90 for her third goal of the season.
With the victory, the Aggies (11-1-0, 2-1-0 SEC) leaped over three teams into second place in the SEC standings with six points. Texas A&M is one of six teams tied for second place, three points behind first-place Vanderbilt (3-0-0 SEC). Georgia moved to 4-4-3 on the year and 1-1-1 in SEC action.
The Aggies turned in another clean sheet, recording their ninth shutout of the season. Cosette Morché made one save to increase her shutout numbers to nine on the season, 17 in two years in College Station and 23 in her four seasons as a Division I keeper.
The Maroon & White scored multiple goals for the 13th consecutive match, extending the school record. The run eclipses the school record of 11 set from October 15, 1994 to September 8, 1995.
With the win, Texas A&M is guaranteed a winning record for the 26th consecutive season. The closest the Maroon & White have finished to the .500 mark is the 12-8-2 (.591) they posted in an injury-plagued 2016 campaign.
The Aggies extended their home win streak to nine games and improved to 25-1-1 over their last 27 games.
Texas A&M owned wide margins in shots (20-11), shots-on-goal (9-1) and corner kicks (8-1).
GOAL SUMMARY
3' – Ritchie sent a free kick in from 40 yards out, 10 yards off the right touchline. While the keeper's attention was drawn to Jimena López who was into the six-yard box trying for a header. The ball got over López's head, but Piper was able to redirect the ball with her right foot before it hit the ground, sending it between the keeper and the right post. A&M 1, UGA 0.
34' – On a corner kick from the left side, McCain sent a ball out to Ritchie unmarked at the left corner of the penalty box. Ritchie sent a missile into the right upper 90 for the insurance goal. A&M 2, UGA 0.
UP NEXT
The Aggies head to Oxford on Friday for a 7 p.m. match against the Ole Miss Rebels.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the pressure relieved by having an early goal...
"Once we scored the first one you could see almost a bit of an exhale by the team, and then they really played well in a lot of different phases in the game today."
On Kendall Ritchie's goal and assist...
"It's just like the ball that she scored against Arkansas on Thursday, except that this one was moving when she struck it. She is clearly one of our more dangerous weapons. I think people around the country are learning that she's got as lethal a foot as anyone in America right now. The first goal, she puts it into a dangerous spot, which puts a very good goalkeeper from Georgia into a perilous situation where it's chaos in front of her, and it's hard for her to deal with that. One of the things we knew about Georgia coming in is that they have an excellent young freshman goalkeeper who is very good at shot-stopping, so it was going to take something good. We had two other breakaways that she made good saves on.
Senior defender Kendall Ritchie
On bouncing back from previous game's loss...
"Thursday was a hard loss. We didn't have our best game. We really knew we had to bounce back today. Getting on the board first was a really big goal for us, and I think it set the tone for the rest of the game."
On the overall game...
"We felt really good and really strong. Our defense was very connected tonight, midfield all the way up to forwards. We just worked really hard for each other, and we wanted to make a point to show who we are again."
Tonight's starting XI all ready for tonight's #TurnItGold match! #GigEm pic.twitter.com/1thnFWgVSW
— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) September 23, 2018
That didn't take long! @gpipesrush9 gets the early goal off the assist by @ken_ritchie19.
— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) September 23, 2018
?? https://t.co/YU70QkPyIM#GigEm pic.twitter.com/Xzm82Uawpc
There's the lethal left foot of @ken_ritchie19 on display! The Aggies lead 2-0!
— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) September 23, 2018
?? https://t.co/YU70QkPyIM#GigEm pic.twitter.com/UC4E5aXw1n
Lots of fun tonight for the annual #TurnItGold match at Ellis Field ?? Thank you for all of the support for the kids! #GigEm pic.twitter.com/qIOyDfSyUi
— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) September 24, 2018
Aggies are back in the win column!
— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) September 24, 2018
And the Maroon & White are guaranteed a winning record for the 26th consecutive season.#GigEm pic.twitter.com/AfFzgUyglX
"It was a really great team win tonight & really great to be home."
— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) September 24, 2018
?? @ken_ritchie19 #GigEm pic.twitter.com/gwHjxE2PeV
Team Stats
UGA
TAMU
Goals
0
2
Shots
11
20
Shots on Goal
1
9
Saves
7
1
Corners
1
8
Fouls
9
5
Scoring Plays
Piper, Grace (4)
Assisted By: Ritchie, Kendall
free kick from 40 yards out in from 6 yd
2:24
Ritchie, Kendall (3)
Assisted By: McCain, Addie
kick from 30 yards out on left side from
33:35
Game Leaders
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
1
dmf
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
Weekly Press Conference: G Guerrieri
Monday, October 13
Weekly Press Conference: G Guerrieri
Monday, October 06
Highlights: Texas A&M 1, Texas 0
Thursday, October 02
Texas Postgame: G Guerrieri, Hattie Patterson, Trinity Buchanan
Thursday, October 02
