The Aggies defeated the Rice Owls at home to end their scoreless and winless drought on Sunday, Oct. 2. The maroon and white had not scored since their loss to Georgia on Friday, Sept. 16, and had not won since Sunday, Sept. 11 against South Alabama.
12 seconds after the 12th Man kicked off, sophomore forward Maile Hayes took the first shot of the game, and the ball soared over the goal.
“There is no one that has a higher desire to score goals than Maile Hayes,” coach G Guerrieri said.
At the end of the first half, A&M nearly quintupled its shots versus its shots on goal. With nine total first-half shots and only two shots on goal by the maroon and white. The opposition ended with three shots and two shots on goal. However, Rice held the majority of ball possession in the first half. The Owls out-possessed the Aggies 59% to 41%.
The Owls took the field quickly after halftime, while the Aggies remained huddled on the sidelines.
A free kick in the Owls territory, earned by a foul on sophomore defender Macy Matula, taken and scored by junior midfielder Kate Colvin gave the Aggies the lead and ultimately won the game 1-0 in the 78th minute.
“We have been practicing that exact free kick in practice a ton,” Colvin said.
The goal by Colvin bounced in the goal box and into the right upper 90 then into the back of the net. After, the Fightin’ Farmers took the ball to Rice’s defending corner and maintained possession until the clock hit zero.
“Winning is something that this team has deserved to do all season long,” Guerrieri said.
The win and defensive shutout also allowed for the younger members to find their confidence on the pitch and get back on track.
“Being able to represent such a great university at my age, and I have two more years here, it’s just exciting,” sophomore defender Quinn Cornog said.
A&M soccer will return to play to seek its first conference win on Thursday, Oct. 6 against Louisiana State University at 6 p.m. on Ellis Field.