After another goal in the first five minutes of action, the No. 4 Aggies pounced on the UC Irvine Anteaters, 4-0, Friday on Fish Camp night.
The Aggies (3-0) dominated the game from start to finish, recording 11 shots on goal along with a whopping 28 total shots. Sophomore Mikaela Harvey began the scoring for the Aggies, grabbing her second goal of the season with a shot just to the left of the penalty kick spot. Fellow sophomore Haley Pounds added onto the scoring for the second Aggie goal of the game, smashing a shot to the left side of the net. Pounds went on to discuss the impact that Harvey’s early goal had on the entire club.
“That’s Mikaela for you,” Pounds said. “She is amazing at dribbling and she was able to create that chance for herself. It really relaxed the game for us and we were able to take a deep breath and keep going again.”
Going into the second half, the Aggies continued on the offensive against the Anteaters. Creating chance after chance, A&M seemed bound to increase its lead at any moment. Behind a raucous Fish Camp crowd, A&M pushed its lead to 3-0 after opportunistic freshman Kate Hajdu punched it home off of a corner kick for her third goal of the season. The Aggies wrapped up the scoring with 9:30 remaining in the game as freshman Claudette Lassandro calmly finished in a crowded penalty box to complete the victory. Harvey spoke after the game about the freshman fitting in nicely for the Aggies.
“They really came in confident and were ready to learn and jump in on the team,” Harvey said. “They meshed really well with us. They’ve been really coachable with open ears, so it’s been really easy to fit them in with this team.”
Head Coach G Guerrieri was pleased with the environment at Ellis Field that the fish camp game provides every year.
“The fish camp game is always electric and they brought the energy for the full 90 minutes,” Guerrieri said. “We hope the freshmen enjoyed the experience and decide to keep coming back. The 12th Man and the Maroon Militia mean so much to these players.”
The Aggies are back in action Sunday at Ellis Field against FAU. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
