Texas A&M soccer has yet to snap out of its losing spell.
On Friday Oct. 1, A&M debuted its pink home uniforms in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. After a heated battle, the Aggies were defeated by No. 17 Tennessee, making this the maroon and white’s fourth consecutive loss.
The Aggies returned two starters to Ellis Field on Hispanic Heritage Night — freshman forward Maile Hayes and sophomore midfielder Barbara Olivieri, last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year— after losing them from the lineup due to injury.
Tennessee started strong offensively in the first quarter, possessing the ball often and displaying an aggressive play style by totaling seven fouls in the first 45 minutes of play. The Volunteers and Aggies evened the stat sheet with three shots each, but neither team struck a true opportunity to score until A&M shot back-to-back in the 38th minute.
“At the beginning, we were a little sloppy,” Olivieri said. “At the end of the first half, we got into [playing with physicality], and knew how to play around them.”
The Aggies’ chance to score in the first half came from outstanding efforts by freshman midfielder Carissa Boeckmann and senior defender Macie Kolb. On a break, Boeckmann attempted shots to score, but the ball was saved by Tennessee’s goalkeeper Lindsey Romig. The ball rebounded to Kolb, who bounced her shot off the goal frame, concluding the first half 0-0.
The match began to heat up in the final 45 minutes.
In the 52nd minute, Boeckmann sought revenge and found her way past defenders to take a shot with an assist from junior forward midfielder Jai Smith. The score gave the Aggies a 1-0 advantage and kicked off an exciting next few minutes.
“In the first half, I missed a goal that should have been put away, so I was pretty determined to go in there and help my team out,” Boeckmann said.
In a sudden break, Tennessee forward Jaida Thomas leveled the score with assistance from midfielder Taylor Huff in the 55th minute. Tennessee’s dominance in the last 45 minutes continued with Thomas notching her second goal of the night in the 62nd minute. Thomas’ score was assisted by forward and midfielder Claudia Dipasupil, giving the Volunteers a 2-1 lead.
The Volunteers continued A&M’s losing streak with a third goal in the final 15 minutes of the match. Tennessee’s senior forward Mackenzie George was aided by sophomore defender Lawson Reine, taking control of the match, resulting in a 3-1 Volunteer win.
After Friday, the Aggies sit at a 5-6-1 record with four losses in a row, a streak which has never occurred before in the history of A&M soccer.
“There is a razor-sharp difference between winning and losing in this league,” head coach G Guerrieri said. “We had about four or five players that played really well … the problem is we didn’t have 11 players that played well.”
A&M will take on No. 14 LSU on the road on Thursday, Oct. 7, in hopes of overcoming its losing streak with a win over an SEC West rival.