The No. 3 Aggie Soccer team got back to their winning ways after defeating Abilene Christian 4 to 1 Sunday night at Ellis Field.

A second half hat trick from sophomore Haley Pounds helped earn the Aggies their fifth win of the season and helped Coach G Guerrieri become one win away from the 400 mark. A&M dominated possession and had 31 shots compared to Abilene Christian’s six.

Pounds talked about her performance and what the win meant after the game.

“It was really exciting — I think we came out just hungry for a win after losing to Florida State Friday night and we were able to put four in the back of the net which was awesome,” said Pounds. “In the first half we were kind of sluggish but in the second half we had much higher intensity and amped it up a lot.”

Texas A&M (5-1) opened the game strong but in the 16th minute Abilene Christian (1-4-1) was awarded a controversial penalty due to a collision between goalkeeper Taylor Saucier and Chantal Kinsey. Kinsey stepped up to the spot and calmly put the ball past Saucier to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

Mikaela Harvey provided an instant response for the Aggies after she found space in the box and fired six yards out. Harvey has now scored four goals in six games this season.

With 19 minutes remaining in the half, freshman Emily Bates nearly made it two for the Aggies. She blasted a shot from 10 yards off the top post. Pounds gave the Aggies a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute after Karlie Mueller whipped in a cross and Pounds headed it home.

Pounds found the net for a second time in the match after she converted a penalty in the 67th minute. Three minutes later in the 70th minute she completed the hat trick after Mikaela Harvey was pushed down hard in the box. Pounds struck the penalty to the left side of the goal and sent it past Sydney Newton. Pounds is now the Aggies’ leading goal scorer with five this season.

Guerrieri discussed the impact that his two sophomores and the two goal scorers for the match have made this season.

“This is a good thing for us — Mikaela Harvey kind of sets so many times as far as the way she manipulates the speed of play, the way she manipulates where we’re going to attack, how we are going to go and the way she brings other people into the game is pretty special,” Guerrieri said. “Haley has just been playing with so much confidence, so much ability, and so much speed of play. The game was so fast for her last year as a freshman and you can tell that she is clearly in charge of the game right now.”
The Aggies will head back to the state of Florida for the second week in a row as they take on the Florida Gators in their first SEC game of the season. Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday and the match will be broadcast on the SEC Network.