The No. 3 Aggie soccer team suffered its first defeat of the season in a 3-1 loss to No. 5 Florida State, after allowing two goals in two minutes during the second half.
Things looked bright early for Texas A&M (4-1), after freshman Emily Bates scored a wonder goal in the 22nd minute reminiscent of the goal Carli Lloyd scored at the World Cup final for team USA. Bates scored from 35 yards out after she saw Florida State keeper Cassie Miller come off her line. Miller reached for the ball as it sailed over her head but came up just short allowing the Aggies to take the lead.
The Aggies headed into the second half with a 1-0 lead and the teams were neck and neck, with A&M having six shots on target compared to Florida States seven, along with both teams both hitting the target 3 times.
The second half was a different story for the Seminoles (4-1) as they began to put more pressure on the Aggies. In the 67th minute Megan Connolly whipped in a corner that eventually landed at the feet of Natalia Kuikka who was able to put in the equalizer to level the game at 1-1.
In the 75th minute, the defending national champions took a 2-1 lead after Berglind Thorvaldsdottir was able to get on the receiving end of a pass from Isabella Schmid and scored from seven yards out. Two minutes later, Megan Connolly gave the Seminoles a 3-1 cushion after tapping in from three yards off of a corner.
The match ended 3-1 to the advantage of Florida State and the Noles had significantly more chances, releasing 22 shots on goal, compared to A&M’s nine and had double the amount of shots on goal, 10-5.
Despite suffering a loss, the Aggies created opportunities but just couldn’t capitalize on them. Emily Bates scored in her second consecutive game and Haley Pounds created opportunities. Head coach G Guerrieri discussed after the game how the Aggies can learn from their loss.
“Some of the younger players played really well in this environment against a defending national champion. We need a better consistent effort across the board. But that’s why we play these types of big non-conference games,” said Guerrieri. “It’s not only an opportunity to try to get a big win, but it gets us ready for the type of competition we’ll face down the road deep in the NCAA Tournament.”
Guerrieri shared his thoughts on the match with 12thman.com saying,
“It was a well-played match by Florida State. They had some very opportunistic goals, scoring off two scrambles on corner kicks and a really good finish on the second goal. I think a lot of our players battled really hard. We created some really good chances. It was a terrific goal by Emily [Bates] to get us in the lead. This is one of those games that is a great learning experience.”
The Aggies will look to get back on a winning streak as they host Abilene Christian on Sunday at Ellis Field. Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
