Coming off a rough performance against rival Texas on Sept. 29, Texas A&M soccer found its stride again in a 4-1 beatdown of Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi to hand the Rebels their sixth straight loss.
It seemed the Aggies had long been waiting for a breakout game from graduate forward Jazmine Wilkinson, which she delivered in style in Friday night’s victory. By tallying the game’s two first-half goals in the 25th and 31st minute, Wilkinson’s play on the pitch led the charge to secure a Maroon and White victory over Ole Miss for the third year in a row.
“Jaz has worked her tail off all season long and so for her to get two tonight, you could see the celebration on our sideline with the other players, everyone was excited for her,” coach G Guerrieri said.
Wilkinson’s brilliance would not stall in the second half, as she went on to assist sophomore midfielder Grace Ivey’s goal in the 54th minute with a perfect pass that spun around Ole Miss senior goalkeeper Shu Ohba as the ball went bouncing into the net.
“I think it was a great team effort from the very beginning, I mean, Syd and Addy put the ball on a platter for me to tap it in, so it was great from them and a great team effort all around,” Wilkinson said.
A&M remained in the driver’s seat as a charging effort from left field got sophomore F Taylor Jernigan in on the action with her first goal of the season coming in at the 80-minute mark.
A&M’s offense did not make it easy for Ohba and the Rebels’ defense to contain its assault as Guerrieri’s crew kept constant pressure in the Ole Miss backfield, tacking on a total of 16 shots with an impressive 11 shots on goal.
Ole Miss came out of the gate in the first half, attempting to match the intensity of A&M, with eight shots to the Aggies’ 11 to start the match. However, this would prove inconsequential to the contest’s outcome, as Ole Miss could not seize any real opportunity until garbage time in the last 10 minutes of the blowout victory.
Freshman defender and Leeds, England native Katie Ramsden was the guilty party to Ole Miss’ only showing of life Friday when she took advantage of a free kick that sailed into the corner of the net to nail a goal in the 84th minute of play.
On the flip side, the Aggies’ defense maintained a relatively unblemished outing, only conceding the one goal in the closing minutes of the contest. Other than the aforementioned late-game mishap, freshman GK Sydney Fuller remained poised in guarding the net, registering four saves despite getting banged up in a second-half scrum at the goalline that ended to no avail for the Rebels.
Between a sloppy game from Ole Miss, who had 15 foul calls on the night, and a revitalized Aggie team on both fronts, A&M was able to take home its fourth conference win and remain in the hunt for a top-25 ranking.
The win puts A&M in a comfortable position in the SEC standings at fourth place, with the top 14 teams in the conference moving on to the SEC Tournament. If the Aggies can continue to develop their offensive and defensive identity throughout the remaining half of conference play, perhaps the program’s 29th NCAA Tournament appearance will be on the horizon.
The Aggies are back at Ellis Field to take on the 5-2-5 Vanderbilt Commodores at 7 p.m. Thursday.
