Texas A&M (6-2-1, 2-1 SEC) continued its winning ways on Sunday night, defeating Missouri (5-6-1, 1-2 SEC) 5-1 in Columbia, Missouri just three days removed from taking down No. 6 Florida at home.
“Anytime you can go on the road in the SEC and get three points, it’s a great night,” said A&M head coach G Guerrieri via the team’s official Twitter page after the game. “So this is a great night.”
The Aggies held a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute when they went down a player, as sophomore Briana Alston was shown her second yellow card of the match. Instead of falling back and playing defensively though, A&M pushed forward and upped the intensity of the game.
In the 61st minute, the Aggies netted their third goal of the game. Senior captain Mikaela Harvey cleared A&M’s line with the ball, finding sophomore Ally Watt who weaved down the right side. Watt shot from the six-yard box, and the ball deflected off a defender and past the keeper.
Eight minutes later, A&M struck again. Missouri’s backup goalkeeper Kristen Rivers made a bad clearance as the ball came to freshman Addie McCain who was just 15 yards out to the right side. McCain took one touch and delivered a cross to Harvey who netted the ball on a half volley to the left of the keeper.
Freshman Rheagen Smith was taken down to the right of the penalty arc in the 81st minute setting up an appetizing free kick opportunity for Cienna Arrieta. The sophomore stepped up confidently and struck the ball over the Tigers’ wall and found the back of the net with a friendly deflection off the right post.
“Our three goals in the second half a man down really shows what we’re made of,” said Watt on the team’s official Twitter page.
The game’s first goal came in the 11th minute as Watt dribbled to the right corner of the penalty box and took a shot that was blocked across goal by the Tiger’s starting goalkeeper Kelsey Dossey. Senior Haley Pounds came in from the left side to net the goal.
Several Aggies were involved in the play that led to the team’s second goal. From the center circle, Harvey passed the ball to McCain on the right side, who sent a long ball down to Watt. Watt took a couple of touches and crossed the ball from the right side where it met Pounds’ head on the penalty spot. Pounds slotted the ball between the goalkeeper and the right post.
Missouri scored its only goal early in the second half on a shot from Kaitlyn Clark from 18 yards out. Despite being up a player for a majority of the second half, the Tigers could not capitalize and allowed three unanswered goals from the Aggies. A&M also led in shots (21-12), shots-on-goal (11-4) and corner kicks (7-5).
“I thought the play of our forwards tonight was maybe the best we’ve seen all year,” Guerrieri added. “We really caused a lot of havoc for the Missouri defense. I’m really pleased. For us to score three goals while we were down a player says a lot about the way we can attack right now.”
A&M is back in action on Friday night as they host the Arkansas Razorbacks at Ellis Field with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.