Suited in golden jerseys, No. 12 Texas A&M soccer shut out the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Saturday night at Ellis Field while raising funds for the fight against pediatric cancer.
The Aggies’ annual Turn it Gold match was also the team’s spring season home opener. In the two programs’ first-ever soccer matchup, A&M defeated the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in a 2-0 brawl. The Aggies are now 9-3-0 on the season, and the Ragin’ Cajuns fall to 10-8-1.
A&M coach G Guerrieri said the victory showed the team has successfully bounced back after a road loss to the unranked Rice Owls early last week.
“I thought that the team responded really well,” Guerrieri said. “It’s a very, very young team. I’m really pleased with how they’re progressing.”
Midfielder Taylor Ziemer led the maroon and white offense. As the Aggies’ sole senior, Ziemer said it was her job to help take pressure off the rest of the team. She did exactly that in the 43rd minute when she kicked a grounder just out of reach of Louisiana-Lafayette goalkeeper Lauren Starwood into the bottom-right corner of the net.
“I think we deserved it,” Ziemer said. “We had a goal coming, and it was awesome to just break the floodgates.”
The Aggies used the momentum to carry them into the second half. A&M sophomore midfielder Kendall Bates said this caused the Ragin’ Cajuns to play more aggressively and make mistakes.
“We were able to get in behind them and force them to make those fouls,” Bates said. “We always try to be aggressive but keep a good balance. Smart fouls only.”
Louisiana-Lafayette senior midfielder Izzy Wheeler fouled A&M freshman forward Laney Carroll in the 55th minute just inside the penalty box, earning the Ragin’ Cajun a yellow card. Carroll scored off the penalty kick, putting the Aggies up 2-0.
A dominant defense and comfortable lead carried the maroon and white through the remainder of the second half. The Aggies possessed the ball 65 percent of the game and allowed only two shots by the Ragin’ Cajuns, neither of which required saves by A&M sophomore goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell.
“You can chalk a lot of that up to the way that our team defends in packs,” Guerrieri said. “We don’t isolate ourselves. That allows us to keep numbers on the ball.”
The win was important for the team’s season, but Ziemer said the bigger triumph of the night was the Turn it Gold campaign raising funds for childhood cancer.
“This is basically the most important night of our season,” Ziemer said. “It means so much to go out there and play for something more. It’s hard to find a better cause. These people root for us; it’s the least we can do.”
At presstime, the Aggies had already raised over $7,500, and the fundraiser continues the rest of the week so 12th Man fans can continue making donations.
The maroon and white is scheduled to play Texas State Bobcats at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ellis Field.
“These games count,” Guerrieri said. “Next week when Texas State comes to town, it’s another one that we’re going to need.”