The No. 14 Texas A&M soccer team continued SEC play on the road Sunday, dropping its second straight match, 2-1, to Alabama in overtime.
“This is a tough one to take,” head coach G Guerrieri said to 12thman.com. “It was a back-and-forth battle. Hats off to Alabama. They found a way to get it done in the overtime. I thought our players came out and did alright, but it just wasn’t good enough.”
Both teams scored in the first half on penalty kicks, with A&M’s (7-4-1, 2-2 SEC) goal coming first at the 34-minute mark, on a shot from junior Hayley Pounds. Pounds was awarded a penalty after being knocked down in the box and is still leading the team in goals at six.
For the second-straight match, the Aggies played without several key starters: sophomores Kate Hajdu and Emily Bates, junior Stephanie Malherbe and senior Ashlynn Harryman.
The Tide’s (7-3-1, 2-1-1 SEC) goal followed shortly after at the 40th-minute mark, when sophomore Emma Welch of Bama was fouled near the box and found the back of the net on the ensuing penalty kick.
Heading into halftime tied at a goal a piece, neither team was able to convert on opportunities in the second half. Each team had a lot of chances for the match, with A&M finishing with 13 shots and Alabama finishing with 16 respectively.
The deciding goal came in the 97th minute during overtime, when Alabama’s sophomore Abbie Boswell found the back of the net, beating the charge of senior goalkeeper Danielle Rice.
The Aggies return to the pitch Sept. 29 playing host to No. 8 South Carolina Gamecocks at Ellis Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will broadcast on the SEC Network.
