Texas A&M soccer has finally found its groove.
A&M snapped a four-game losing streak on the road on Thursday, Oct. 7, in Baton Rouge and remains undefeated in the series at 13-0. This game marked a first for sophomore midfielder Barbara Olivieri as she picked up her first goal since Aug. 28, as she has been out due to injury.
The Aggies got on the board early with the help from 2020 SEC Freshman of the Year Olivieri, for her first goal of the night. This point came from a deep pass from sophomore forward/defender Lauren Geczik at centerfield in which Olivieri chested the ball and knocked it into the back left end of the goal post.
“My first game back [last Friday] was sort of iffy with the injury,” Olivieri said. “It felt great to be back and score two goals and make a big impact on the game.”
The maroon and white took it up a notch and added on three more goals in the second half. Freshman forward Makhiya Mcdonald was fouled early in the half, which helped set up freshman forward Maile Hayes for a penalty kick that led to her sixth goal of the season.
“Early on we missed three or four PKs, so someone had to take initiative,” Hayes said. “Lori [Stephenson] sat us down and gave us a list of people she thought would be most fitting to take PKs. Those people practice PKs every week. I have my confidence because of that work.”
Sophomore midfielder Kate Colvin picked up her fourth goal of the season off a direct pass from Hayes to give the Aggies a three-point lead. At the 88th minute, junior defender Mia Pante assisted Olivieri as she buried the ball in the net to get her second goal of the night and put the cherry on top of an already dominant performance.
A&M attacked with full force throughout the night as they took 14 shots total, half of them toward the goal.
Head coach G Guerrieri gave credit to the bench for the victory on Thursday against LSU.
“To be able to come into their house and get a win is huge for our team,” Guerrieri said. “It’s nice to have our attackers back, but it’s also nice that the players who took their place while they were out gained experience. It made it where we could substitute those players on and keep the pressure on.”
A&M travels back home to host Ole Miss on Sunday, Oct. 10 at Ellis Field and will look to carry on this momentum after the huge win against the Tigers.