No. 19 Texas A&M extended its winning streak to five against the Alabama Thursday night at Ellis Field with a 2-0 win over the Crimson Tide. The Aggies move to 8-2-1, 4-1 SEC, while Alabama falls to 8-5-1, 0-4-1 SEC still looking for that first win in conference.
The Aggies really stepped on the gas pedal late in the game. A corner kick by freshman defender Jimena Lopez set up by junior forward Brittany Crabtree who ended up shooting a wide-open shot just high. She then got another opportunity a moment later in the 86th minute and netted the winning goal. It was her first in 2017, and her fourth career goal as an Aggie.
“Coming off the bench and when Haley went down it was kind of a vital role for to come in and perform. When I got that second opportunity, it was relief and to come in the last ten minutes leading. I’ve been searching for a goal all season hoping more will come, and to finally get it and to seal the win, it’s really nice.” said an ecstatic Crabtree.
The match did not look too good for A&M at first glance when in the 10th minute senior forward Haley Pounds went down on a 50-50 tackle and did not return. The match was pretty evenly sided in the first 29 minutes until A&M had a dump pass from sophomore forward Cienna Arrieta to SEC Player of the week sophomore Ally Watt to score the first goal of the game with a header past Alabama goalie Kat Stratton. It was Watt’s fourth goal in the last four games.
“I just knew when Arrieta had the ball, I trust her no matter I know that’s the player that she is, we work on it all the time by getting in the box. It was a really was really hard to get the ball in there to make sure she gets it away from the keeper, so a good job by Cienna.” said Watt.
After that goal, the A&M defense did not let up, keeping the Crimson Tide out of the box. Alabama finished with only two shots on goal total, both by freshman midfielder Taylor Morgan. Her first was a direct save by junior A&M goalie Coresette Morchie in the 19th minute, and her second was in 71st minute also a direct save by Morchie.
“I thought our midfield did a great job, and I thought their forwards did a great job to a point where they would press but we also didn’t give the ball back. Really pleased, with our team in general; that’s two shutouts in a row from our defense.” said A&M head coach G. Guerreri
The Crimson Tide had four corner kicks on the pitch. They were at a disadvantage on defense when sophomore defender Neely Smith was ejected for getting a yellow card in the 49th minute then a red card in the 56th minute.
The Aggies travel to Athens, Georgia this Sunday where they will be back in action against Georgia. Kick-off is set 4p.m. from Turner Soccer Complex. The game will be televised on SEC Network.