The No. 12 Texas A&M soccer team returned to its winning ways on Sunday as the Aggies took down the unranked University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels 4-0 on the back of a two-goal performance from senior Ally Watt and extend their record to 5-1-2.
The Aggies dominated from kickoff in front of an electric crowd of 1,757, and after 11 minutes of scoreless play, scored three goals in a short span of 10 minutes. A&M ended the half with 15 shots, nine of which were on target, whilst holding the Rebels to only one shot on target the entire first half.
The A&M offense fired 26 shots and 14 shots on target. This offensive domination was the result of every player on the field — the team had assists and goals from midfielders, attackers and defenders.
“Our forwards really came through on the things we have talked about since the BYU game of getting them back into their lanes and opening up more spaces for other people,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “Tonight is a better indicator of who we are. We were able to bounce back from a poor performance where we got outplayed on the road.”
After failing to score in their previous two games, the Aggies returned to form in electrifying fashion. A&M scored four goals in the game with two coming from Watt, one from sophomore midfielder Tera Ziemer and a fourth in the 61st minute from Ásdís Halldórsdóttir, which was assisted by none other than Watt. Junior midfielder Jimena Lopez had two assists and freshman defender Katie Smith had an assist of her own.
“Having the early goals takes a lot of pressure off of not scoring in the last couple of games,” Guerrieri said. “That was the biggest thing, it was a good reminder of who we are and how we can play.”
The defense, led by sophomore Karlina Sample and senior Briana Alston, shut down the UNLV offense, holding them to only four shots on target and seven shots in total.
“Kalina, Bri and [Shantel Hutton] were the three best A&M players on the night at Provo, and I believe that they were awesome tonight and were able to give some of them a break because we were up,” Guerrieri said. “We were able to give Olivia [Ausmus] some time in goal which was nice for her, she’s been here for a while and has had to battle through some injuries.”
A&M begins conference play on the road on Thursday against Mississippi State with kickoff at 7 p.m.
“Going into Mississippi State is going to be a tough challenge because they are very athletic and hard lt to beat at Starkvegas,” Guerrieri said. “It will be a darby-like match because it is an SEC game against teams that know each other well.”