After winning its first two exhibitions of the 2024 season against Rice and SMU, No. 25 Texas A&M Soccer was hungry for more in its regular season debut against Lamar. The Aggies shut down Lamar in a David vs Goliath manner — only this time there were no miracles, as A&M won 4-0 in the hot swamps of Beaumont on Thursday.
A&M’s offense came out of the gate hot and ready to score in the first minutes of the game. Sophomore midfielder Grace Ivey broke the scoring seal for the Aggies with a quick rebound shot in the 12th minute, her 3rd career collegiate goal.
Junior midfielder Syndey Becerra followed up her teammate with her own goal in the 14th minute after she beat a Cardinal defender one-on-one — only to then blast a high shot through the goalkeeper’s gloves.
Once again, Beccera found the back of the net in the 35th minute after sophomore forward Taylor Jernigan laid the ball off to her behind the penalty arc. Becerra took one touch and hammered a shot to the upper right corner for her second goal of the night.
The Cardinals’ offense looked stagnant in the first half, only producing two shots to the Maroon and White’s 14 with no corner kicks.
The Aggies kept the pressure on in the 56th minute. Ivey received a long cross from Becerra in the box and then beat the Cardinal defender with a spin move, poking in her shot to the bottom left corner for her second goal of the night.
One more goal late in the 79th minute came from some of the newcomers to Aggieland.
After some confusion in the box, freshman midfielder Kat Campbell took her first shot and goal, resulting in assists for transfer sophomore forward Kennedy Clark and Jernigan as well.
The Aggie offense made a great first impression on the season, totaling 25 shots with 11 on goal. The defense also executed their plan well, allowing only 3 shots on goal, with none being too dangerous for the newcomer freshman goalkeeper Maysen Veronda.
A&M will return to Ellis Field for its first regular season home game against Denver on Wednesday, August 21.
