Texas A&M soccer fought Georgia tooth and nail for 110 minutes before losing 3-2 in the last minute of the game.
At the beginning of the first half, the Bulldogs kept their foot on the pedal against the Aggies’ defense, which forced fifth-year goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell to make two key stops.
The Maroon and White controlled the offensive flow of the game towards the end of the first half with several counter-attacks. In the end, they totaled six shots and two corner kicks.
After a turnover in the 41st minute, senior midfielder Andersen Willams threaded a pass through Bulldog defenders to senior midfielder Kate Colvin on the outside of the 6-yard line box. She then hit freshman forward Taylor Jernigan in stride for the walk-in goal.
After a cross by Georgia into the box in the 56th minute, freshman midfielder Adysen Armenta attempted to settle the ball but was called for a handball foul by the referee. After an official review, the Bulldogs were awarded a penalty kick.
Georgia’s redshirt senior midfielder Nicole Vernis took the kick and blasted a shot in the upper left corner past Caldwell for the equalizer.
In the 73rd minute, junior midfielder Carissa Boeckmann received the first yellow card of the night after being forced to halt freshman midfielder Christian Brathwaite’s advance on a counterattack.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Brown was all over the Fightin’ Farmers’ offense with a total of 11 saves in the match. She denied the A&M offense once more after senior forward Maile Hayes attempted to sneak a shot by the keeper in the 87th minute.
Caldwell responded to the Bulldogs’ defensive efforts with her own moves and denied two late last-minute goal-scoring attempts to secure the 1-1 final in regulation.
Overtime consists of two 10-minute halves, followed by a sudden-death shootout if the game is still tied.
Graduate forward Hannah White delivered a dagger in the Maroon and White’s defense after she drew out Caldwell from her line and beat sophomore defender Carolyn Calzada for the back-side goal in the 95th minute. White was assisted on the goal by senior defender Madison Haugen and graduate midfielder Croix Bethune.
Hayes was fouled in the box in the 102nd minute while trying to fight off junior defender Jessie Dunn. The first penalty kick was blocked by Brown but ruled invalid because the keeper left the line before sophomore midfielder Sydney Becerra made contact with the ball.
The second attempt was made by graduate forward Sammy Smith, who placed the ball far right of the goal.
However, the Aggies stole the ball back two minutes later and mounted another counterattack. This time, Beccera bounced a shot off senior forward Jazmine Wilkinson, which slowly bounced off the inside of the goalpost to even the game at two.
After a foul about 10 yards outside of the penalty box on freshman defender Margo Matula, Vernis placed the ball perfectly to Bethune’s feet as she beat the defender on her back and scored in the last 30 seconds of the second overtime.
With the loss, the Aggies are eliminated from the SEC Tournament and will soon find out if they earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will take place on Monday, Nov. 6, at 3 p.m. on NCAA.com.