Coming off of a loss in its home-opener against Denver, No. 24 Texas A&M soccer returned to Ellis Field to take on Fairfield and claim a convincing 3-0 victory. Great defense and constant pressure eventually led to the Aggies handing the Stags their first loss of the season.

The Aggies struck first in the 18th minute after senior forward Mia Pante captured her first goal of the season with a great shot outside the box and scored a middle-of-the-net upper 90, assisted by graduate F Allison Lowrey and senior F MaKhiya McDonald.

The Maroon and White kept their feet on the gas in the 33rd minute, as junior midfielder Sydney Becerra took a free kick and scored in the top left of the goal for her third goal of the season.

Capping off an incredible first half for the Aggies, sophomore defender Margo Matula added her name to the season’s goal-scorers as she beat her defender and converted a header off of a great corner kick from junior M Leah Pirro.

At the beginning of the second half, Fairfield’s sophomore M Anya Moser attempted to put a point on the board but was stopped by the Aggies’ freshman goalkeeper, Sydney Fuller.

A&M was outstanding on both sides of the ball as it only allowed five total shots and one shot on goal on the defensive end. On the offensive end, it tallied a 20 shots, including eight shots on goal — forcing Fairfield junior GK Katie Wright and graduate GK Lindsay Dewar to make a combined five saves.

With some shot attempts from both teams late in the match, the score remained identical through the second half.

A&M will prepare to face the Baylor Bears at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field at 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30.