The Texas A&M soccer team defeated McNeese State 8-0 at Ellis Field in the first home game of the 2022 season on Sunday, Aug. 21.
The Aggies, blazing with speed and intensity, took the lead in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Quinn Cornog scored the first goal of the game in the second minute while sophomore forward MaKhiya McDonald picked up the assist.
McDonald quickly followed with a kick from the box to gain a second point for the Aggies. Junior midfielder Kate Colvin and freshman midfielder Sydney Becerra assisted McDonald on the goal.
“We set the tone coming out and scoring and following that we kept our intensity high,” McDonald said about the hot start for the Aggies.
McNeese struggled to match the Aggies’ intensity offensively and ended the first half scoreless with no shot attempts made. However, junior goalkeeper Briana O’Dell completed three saves to give the Cowgirls a spark defensively throughout the first half.
In the 24th minute of the match, sophomore defender Macy Matula kicked from the left side to the center of the box. Becerra was there to set the ball up, which was kicked in by McDonald for another goal for the Aggies.
The Aggies continued to dominate. Scoring a fourth goal in the opening minutes of the second half was Colvin. Colvin kicked the goal in for A&M after a quick assist from sophomore defender Mia Pante.
In the 48th minute, Becerra attempted a shot for the bottom right of the goal, but it was saved by O’Dell for the Cowgirls.
Becerra continued to display grit and determination as she picked up the first goal of her college career in the 55th minute of the match to bring the Aggies to a 6-0 lead. The assist went to Colvin.
“It feels good, I was really excited to get out there and finally get my first official goal,” Becerra said.
McNeese attempted to make adjustments with substitutions in the 67th minute but still could not find an answer for the Aggies.
A&M continued to control the momentum of the game and work together as a squad. In the 72nd minute, Matula set up another goal for the Aggies and sophomore defender Sawyer Dumond gained the point, bringing the lead to 7-0.
The final point of the game was scored by the Aggies in the 82nd minute by freshman midfielder Georgia Leb. The Aggies concluded the game with 25 shot attempts and eight made goals.
“I’m proud of the way that players have trained and prepared themselves for this,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “We talked about this being a complete squad victory because everyone on the squad played and everyone on the squad contributed to this win in a lot of positive ways.”
“They get out everyday on this field and they work their tails off and they go after each other in practice, that’s the process that sets up this type of outcome,”
Today’s win prepares the Aggie for future competitions and SEC play.
“Coming off of Clemson, you saw that we worked really hard, so to come home and at our home opener be able to score eight goals sets the intensity for the next game because we have two more home games before we get into SEC play, so this was really critical for us,” McDonald said.
The Aggies will take the field again on Thursday, Aug. 25 against Sam Houston at Ellis Field.