COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies remained unbeaten on the season as they logged a 2-0 victory over the DePaul Blue Demons Sunday at Ellis Field.
It marked the third shutout of the season for the Aggies. Cosette Morche made three saves, all in the second half, for her third shutout at Texas A&M.
Ally Watt scored the ice breaker in the 48th minute, her first tally of the season. Cienna Arrieta gathered a poor clearance by the Blue Demons in the left inside channel 30 yards out. Arrieta sent a diagonal ball into the penalty box, finding Watt in stride entering the box from the right corner. Watt took two touches to get to the right corner of the six-yard box and roofed a shot between the right post and the keeper for the 1-0 lead.
Texas A&M (3-0-1) tacked on an insurance goal in the 81st minute. Mikaela Harvey deked a Blue Demons’ defender outside the penalty box on the right side. She then dribbled through two other defenders, uncorking a shot from eight yards out for her first of goal of the season and the 2-0 lead.
The ball was knocked around the midfield for much of the first half with the teams combining for five shots, three for Texas A&M and two for DePaul (2-4-0).
For the match, the Aggies owned the advantage in shots (8-6) and corner kicks (6-4) and shots-on-goal were even at 3-3.
Texas A&M returns to action next Friday for a 7 pm match against the Butler Bulldogs at Ellis Field. It’s the Turn It Gold match for the Maroon and White as they help to fight pediatric cancer.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the match…
“I think more than anything, DePaul are a really well-coached team. Erin did a great job of having them prepared for us. Granted we played a double-overtime very, very physical game the other so I was pleased with the way we were able to come back. Our discussion at halftime was not about changing who we were it was just about changing the level of effort that we wanted to put into it, to throw our heart first and everything else would follow and that’s really what happened.”
On the second half…
“We saw in the first two minutes we were able to create a really good chance and Ally (Watt) was able to finish it off. I thought that our girls did a tremendous job of keeping the game under control. What a spectacular goal by Mikaela (Harvey) to get the insurance goal to put us up 2-0. DePaul had a great chance in the first half and they kept us neutralized for so much of first forty-six minutes. I was pleased that our players weren’t frustrated and we’re able to break through. It’s a hot day and it took a lot to make it happen. We were pleased to get it done and put up another win for us.”
On Ally Watt…
“She is still a player who is limited. She is a sophomore as far as NCAA eligibility. As a sophomore, there is still a huge window of greatness ahead of her. We don’t look at her as a one-dimensional player and we want her to think of herself as a multi-dimensional player. She has a really good balance with what Haley (Pounds) brings on the outside. This was her first goal and hopefully the first of many.”
Sophomore forward Ally Watt
On upping the standard in the second half…
“The message we got from Phil (Stephenson) was to play how we should be playing, stop worrying about the other team, and we need to play our own game, and he was right. We were just not playing how we should be playing and how we could actually perform, so we had to reset the standard for ourselves out here.”
Senior midfielder Mikaela Harvey
On the second half…
“I think in the first half we were just a little off. We were really excited coming off the Friday game and we just wanted to get a win in because we didn’t get the result we wanted. We were just a little bit hectic, but Phil (Stephenson) really calmed us down at halftime and reminded us how to play. I think it definitely showed in the second half.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics