Despite coming off a dominant performance against Lamar, Texas A&M soccer returned home to host its first home match of the season against Denver, who gave the Aggies a rude awakening in 3-2 loss. Despite the 19 chances A&M had on the offensive side, the crossbar and unfortunate luck led to the team’s first loss of the season.
The Aggies struck first early in the fourth minute after senior midfielder Mia Pante executed a dangerous run down the left side of the field, beating her defender and then laying a pass across the box to senior forward MaKhiya McDonald — who then laid the ball into the bottom left of the net.
Denver attempted to respond in the 16th minute when senior M Ella Frost launched a power shot to freshman goalkeeper Sydney Fuller, who deflected the high-placed shot upwards and out-of-bounds.
The Pioneers responded to the Maroon and White in the 29th minute with their own goal by sophomore M Michaela McGowan. Assisting her were redshirts sophomore F Hannah Tate and junior M Samantha Dreiling.
Frost delivered the second goal for Denver after A&M’s defense gave away back-to-back corner kicks, then broke down in the middle of the box as McGowan laid the ball of to Frost.
However, it did not take the Aggies long to rally, this time behind sophomore M Kennedy Clark. She launched down the field on a counter attack before laying the ball off to graduate student F Allison Lowery, tying the game at two with her shot in the 40th minute.
Right out of the gate in the first five minutes of the second half, the Pioneers bombarded Fuller with two shots on goal, forcing her on her toes to make both saves.
In the 53rd minute, Denver found success in the box when they found the Maroon and White off guard in the counterattack. Senior F Blythe Sales beat her defender, passing off to Megan Murray who sent the ball into the back of the net to take the lead 3-2.
“We had a lot of chances but weren’t able to finish them,” Lowery said. “That’s gonna be one of our main points in practice. We got a lot of shots off, but they were not on target and did not go in the net. You can’t win games like that.”
The fierce offensive battle ended with A&M earning three last set pieces, including a free kick just outside of the box. Junior M Sydney Becerra took the kick, and Pante rebounded with shot of her own, only to reflect off the crossbar and end up in the Pioneers’ hands for the final minutes of the game.
“I think we are going to be a completely different team out there [on Saturday],” Lowery said. “We are going to come out hard, hungry, and we are going to fix our mistakes.”
Next, A&M will remain at Ellis Field to host Fairfield at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24.
