COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 19 Texas A&M Aggies dropped a 3-1 decision to the Pepperdine Waves in non-conference soccer action Sunday afternoon at Ellis Field.
Texas A&M held a 22-14 edge in shots for the game, including an 11-6 advantage in shots-on-goal, and owned a 9-1 margin in corner kicks, but were unable to capitalize in the loss. Pepperdine’s goalkeeper Hannah Seabert made 10 saves on the afternoon and the Aggies settled on a fair amount of shots from outside of striking range.
Lynn Williams led the Pepperdine attack with two goals and one assist while Kristen Rodriguez tallied a goal and an assist.
The Aggies controlled the action in the first half, logging a 12-6 edge in shots and a 6-1 margin in corner kicks, but were unable to break the scoring seal as Seabert made six of her saves in the stanza.
Pepperdine struck quickly coming out of the intermission, scoring two goals in the first four minutes of the second half.
Rodriguez worked the ball into the penalty box from the left corner and served up a pass to Williams on the far side of the six-yard box. In an enviable position, Williams was able to send a shot to the left of Aggie goalkeeper Jordan Day into the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage with 43:01 remaining in the second half.
The Waves struck again with 41:20 left in the second half. This time Ally Holtz slotted a thru ball down the center of the pitch from 30 yards out. Her pass found the feet of Williams who split the Aggie defense for a one-on-one situation with Day at the penalty spot and connected for her second goal of the game.
Texas A&M cut the lead to 2-1 in the 55th minute as Kelley Monogue wrangled the ball from a Pepperdine defender and launched a shot from the arc of the penalty box to the right of Seabert for her second goal of the season.
Monogue nearly tied the contest in the 62nd minute as she fired a rocket from 15 yards out, but it sailed inches north of the crossbar.
The Waves added an insurance goal in the 71st minute as Williams skirted a pass, right-to-left, across the top of the six-yard box through the A&M defense to Kristen Rodriguez who shot to the left of Day for the 3-1 lead.
Trailing by two goals, Liz Keester sent in two shots in the waning moments that sent Seabert to the deck for saves, but the Aggies were unable to narrow the gap.
Texas A&M returns to action on Friday as the Aggies host the San Diego Toreros in an 8 pm contest at Ellis Field.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
Opening Statement: “It didn’t appear to be a good effort out there and the result certainly proved it. This was one of those games where we did a lot to come close but we didn’t finish off our chances and we didn’t come close enough to not allow them to finish off their chances. Hats off to Pepperdine and to (Lynn) Williams up front. She was the girl that we knew we had to stop and we couldn’t stop her and that’s on me for knowing what was going to happen and not being able to adjust and make it happen. Our effort has got to be better. If we expect to win anything, our effort has got to improve. Yes, it’s hot and yes it’s been a tough day; it’s been a tough weekend, but it’s just as tough for the opponent.”
On areas that need improvement: “I can’t remember the last time we gave up three goals on our own field and especially three goals in one half. I’m disappointed. We can’t point fingers. We’ve got a lot of areas that need work. Our backline has got to get sorted out. We’ve got to sort out some basic issues because we’re going to have two more tough teams coming in here next weekend in San Diego and Baylor.”
On individual performances today: “A lot of our shot selection was from too far out. Their goalkeeper had 10 saves. That’s a heck of a day and you can’t take anything away from their keeper. Seabert had some great saves that kept them tied and then we didn’t do enough to put ourselves in more dangerous position to score. Kelley (Monogue) was in a great position. I thought she had a good weekend all the way around. I thought Janae Cousineau was excellent. We’ve got to have more performances like that.”
Junior Midfielder Kelley Monogue
On what the team needs to improve on: “I think we needed to finish our chances and work on our organization in the back. We just got spread apart too much. That was a good learning game for us.”
On her goal: “We worked on getting wider as forwards so that opens up the middle for me to dribble through and take a shot.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics