Senior forward Ally Watt delivered a game-winning goal to give Texas A&M a 2-1 victory over Vanderbilt on Thursday.
In Nashville, the Commodores took a 1-0 lead before halftime with a goal by redshirt sophomore forward Haley Hopkins, who is second in the SEC, for her 11th of the season. Although Vanderbilt held on to the lead for most of the second half, Watt managed to send the game into overtime with a late penalty kick. 
After a relatively inactive first overtime period for both squads, the insertion of Ali Russell in the second overtime gave the Aggies newfound energy going forward. Stealing the ball from Vanderbilt after a resilient pressure, she pushed down the left wing and flipped a cross to the feet of Watt in the box. A&M’s leading scorer wrapped around a defender and scored with a dagger into the upper right corner.
A&M coach G Guerrieri said Russell’s performance in the game was instrumental for the Aggies.
“Russell came in there in that second overtime period and did a great job of collecting the ball, getting down the line and getting the ball to the kid that we want to have the ball in front of goal,” Guerrieri told 12thman.com.
Following a difficult stretch of only one win in four games after starting 3-0 in the SEC, the Aggies were in danger of falling to the sixth seed in the SEC with a loss. However, this critical win over Vanderbilt lifts A&M to second in the SEC West with 16 points and a 5-2-1 SEC record.
“Anytime you win on the road in the SEC you’ve accomplished something,” Guerrieri told 12thman.com. “To come from behind – to do it on the road against a quality side like Vanderbilt – is something I’m proud of for the girls… Really a big win for us.”
Watt said she was proud of the way the team fought for the come-from-behind win.
“It was a really good effort,” Watt told 12thman.com. “We went down in the first half, but the fight that we gave in the second half and the overtimes – we really came through and got the result we wanted. We really needed this win today and the girls fought really hard.”
The Aggies will next host Missouri at 4 p.m. on Sunday.