Texas A&M soccer senior forward MaKhiya McDonald and senior midfielder Mia Pante have grown quite familiar with TCU over their careers as Aggies. The two programs have met on the pitch for the past three seasons, with each match decided by one goal.
However, with the Horned Frogs claiming each matchup, McDonald and Pante had yet to pick up a win in the series. That changed Thursday, as both players netted a goal to down TCU, 2-0, at Ellis Field. Both scores came in the second half as freshman goalkeeper Sydney Fuller kept the Horned Frogs off the scoreboard for 90 minutes.
“It feels great,” McDonald said. “We were always one goal shy. We were always just so close. Just to get the 2-0 win and come out with that — it was just really exciting, really fun. You can show that we put in the work these last couple weeks, and everything showed on the field today, so [it was] really exciting.”
Close, intense matches have become the norm when both programs meet up. A&M’s last win in the series came by a 1-0 margin in 2020, raising the Aggies’ edge in the teams’ all-time history to 13-0. TCU grabbed 2-1 victories in each of the next two seasons before last season’s 1-0 triumph. The losses, though, didn’t leave A&M’s upperclassmen feeling discouraged.
“I think it’s an in-state rival,” Pante said. “Just bringing the energy, bringing the confidence. I know every time they step on the field, they’re going to be giving it 100%. They’re a tough team to play against, so I think just that confidence and that energy going into this game is what made us come out with a win.”
The match’s first half had the feel of a rivalry, with both teams trading possessions and having little to show for it. The Aggies managed four shots, while their tight backline of junior defender Carolyn Calzada, sophomore Ds Adysen Armenta and Margo Matula and redshirt freshman D Bella James kept the Horned Frogs from getting a shot off.
The first 45 minutes elicited memories of A&M’s match at Baylor on Aug. 30, when both squads were held scoreless in the first half before the Bears knocked in the winning goal in the 85th minute. Looking to avoid a similar outcome, the Aggies turned up the heat in the second half with McDonald and Pante leading the way.
“We have to come out, we have to start every half intense like we did the last two minutes of Baylor,” McDonald said. “We had to bring that intensity today, and we have to do that going forward as well. You can see that when we’re all over the field that we’re unstoppable. The first half, they had zero shots on goal, so that was just something that we strive for and that we practiced this week, as well.”
McDonald showcased that sense of urgency as she wasted little time in putting A&M on the board in the 53rd minute. The Lancaster product chased down a kick from graduate F Jazmine Wilkinson on the upper half of the field and navigated between a duo of TCU defenders before sending the ball into the net just above the goal box.
“Just being unpredictable,” McDonald said. “A lot of people know that I can shoot with my right, so kind of faking it and then cutting in and then also being able to just curve it back post [is] something I’ve been working on as well.”
Pante was quick to join her in the box score with a 59th-minute goal that bolstered the Aggies’ advantage. Like McDonald, Pante showed off her speed in finding an assist from graduate F Andersen Williams, cutting back from a defender and finding the back of the net.
“We’ve been saying over and over as the season went on, people are asking about, ‘Who are some special players on our team?’” coach G Guerrieri said. “Well, there you see two of our most special players [McDonald and Pante] right there. … Couldn’t be more pleased for those two because we’ve been waiting for them to kind of break out and get on the scoresheet. Great night for them to do it.”
Putting up points was only part of the Aggies’ job against a TCU attack averaging two goals per game. In the box, Fuller let nothing past her, despite the Horned Frogs unleashing 10 shots and eight shots on goal in the second half.
“We knew coming out in this game it was not going to be easy,” Fuller said. “We had to bring the energy from the very start, and all of the other girls reinforced that throughout the whole entire day. This is a game that, if we bring the energy, we can win.”
Fuller stepped into the role after the team’s starting goalkeeper, freshman Maysen Veronda, suffered a long-term injury in a workout following A&M’s Aug. 15 opener. Fuller has been up to the challenge with a pair of shutouts in four matches.
“I’m so happy for Sydney, a freshman, but she doesn’t play like a freshman,” Pante said. “So [I’m] super happy. She’s confident back there, she talks to us and stepping off her line in big moments like that, that just shows she’s going to be a really good keeper. A big player for this team coming up.”
The Aggies return to Ellis Field to take on 2-1-3 Louisiana Tech on Sunday at 6 p.m.
