The rough start to Texas A&M soccer’s 2023 campaign continued on a boiling hot Sunday night.
Three days after falling at home to No. 6 Florida State in Game 1, the Aggies dropped their second in a row, falling 3-2 to Washington State on Aug. 20 at Ellis Field.
“It’s a frustrating result with the loss against arguably the best team in the country on Thursday,” coach G Guerrieri said. “We were right in that game too … we [gave] away a goal with four minutes to go, today we give away a goal in the last 10 minutes.”
A common theme for the Aggies last season was losing the game late and it appears to Aggie fans that has continued on into the current season.
“We know we can come back, obviously, because we did it in Florida State and we did it tonight, but it’s just staying focused for the full 90 minutes,” junior forward Maile Hayes said. “That’s what’s really important for us right now.”
The maroon and white took an early 1-0 lead in the 14th minute as junior midfielder Carissa Boeckmann made a run and assisted junior forward MaKhiya McDonald, who finished the job.
However, in the 22nd minute, a ball deflected off junior defender Quinn Cornog led to the WSU equalizer scored by freshman midfielder Neomi Clark.
The score would remain 1-1 as the whistle sounded after the first 45 minutes.
Seven and a half minutes into the second half, a foul in the box by freshman defender Margo Matula led to a penalty kick for the Cougars. WSU capitalized and took the 2-1 lead as fifth-year forward Grayson Lynch put the penalty kick into the back of the net.
The Aggies, however, would return the favor seven minutes later as Hayes forced a foul in the box and capped it off with a goal from the penalty spot to tie the game 2-2.
With 11:13 left to play, the Cougars notched the winning goal after the Aggies were unable to clear the ball from their zone leading to Lynch’s second goal of the night from a shot inside the box. The goal was assisted by senior forward Margie Detrizio.
Despite the result, the Aggies outshot the Cougars 16 to 6, but unfortunately for the maroon and white, the game is not won on shots.
“They usually have a very high shooting percentage and today they were shooting .750,” Guerrieri said. “A lot of that were due to our mistakes.”
In order for the maroon and white to get to where they want to be, McDonald said they will have to keep a positive mindset.
“We’re still two games in, so we’re taking this as a stepping stone to the season,” McDonald said. “We have a few more games before SEC play, and we want to be the best, at our peak once we get to the SEC.
“We’re just going to keep learning from this game and [are] going to get ready to play Baylor this week,” McDonald said.
The Aggies and Bears will face off in the maroon and white’s annual Fish Camp match on Saturday, Aug. 26 at Ellis Field at 7 p.m.