Texas A&M soccer came out with its first win of the season against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in an exciting match that ended 2-0 on Thursday, Aug. 31. The previously stagnant A&M offense got out of its early woes, outshooting Tulsa 22-2 with nine of those shots on goal.
A&M came in with a 0-2-1 start to the season going into the matchup at Ellis Field.
In the first half, the Aggies kept their foot on the gas against the Golden Hurricane with a promising run from junior forward Mia Pante, but an offsides call negated a shot that found the back of the net. A&M continued to press the Tulsa defensive side with 8 total shots in the first 45 minutes of play.
Tulsa, meanwhile, struggled to keep the ball on the maroon and white half of the pitch, having only four major runs, which all ultimately resulted in no shots, leaving the match tied at 0 going into the half.
The Golden Hurricane came out firing first to start the second half with a shot on goal from junior midfielder Ashlyn Fernandez, which was saved by fifth-year goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell. However, the Aggies came out with a quick response from a run orchestrated by junior forward MaKhiya McDonald on the wing, forcing a corner kick and quick shot by fifth-year midfielder Sammy Smith.
After a run in the 51st minute by junior midfielder Carissa Boeckmann was cut short by an intentional yellow card, Caldwell came up from the goal to take a free kick and drilled the upper 90 right over sophomore goalkeeper Tatum Sanders for her first career goal and the first score of the match.
“We’ve had her taking those kicks for a little while, she started doing those in the Covid season, the spring of 2021,” coach G Guerrieri said. “It was a very well taken free kick. When she essentially stuck [the ball], it was like oh look at that, and she does hit the ball well like that quite often with a lot of force.”
Another foul by the Golden Hurricane in the 57th minute set up Boeckmann for her goal from the top of the key, bringing the score to 2-0. Freshman right back Adysen Armenta had a deep run from her own defensive back, beating out four Tusla defenders until she was ultimately stopped in the corner.
The second half ended with a few back and forth runs and a final unsuccessful push by Tulsa, but it wasn’t enough to overcome A&M.
Next, A&M will travel to Fort Worth to face off against TCU at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium, on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.