Aggie Soccer Upends No. 9 Clemson, 3-1, in Front of Raucous Ellis Field Crowd

Story by Emily Wedemeyer, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies defeated the No. 9 Clemson Tigers at Ellis Field with an overflow crowd on what served as A&M’s first home sporting event of the 2021-22 school year.

A&M freshman Mia Pante and sophomore Barbara Olivieri each recorded a goal and an assist on the night. The Aggies managed to get on the board first with Pante’s first career goal in the 17th minute, giving A&M an early 1-0 lead over the Tigers. The Vancouver, Canada, native capitalized on the scoring opportunity from inside the penalty box immediately following a blocked kick, with an assist from senior Macie Kolb.

The Aggie defense showed up in the first half by not allowing Clemson any threatening scoring opportunities. The Tigers are known to be high-scoring contenders, outscoring their opponents 12-0 in their first two matches of the season.

Both teams came out offensively aggressive in the second half with Clemson evening the game 1-1 with a shot to the crossbar by Renee Lyles with 27 minutes remaining. The Maroon & White immediately fired back with a shot by Olivieri, assisted by Pante to regain the Aggies’ lead. Kate Colvin then added an insurance goal for the Aggies with help from Olivieri to secure A&M’s 3-1 victory.

The match was tightly contested with Texas A&M owning slim advantages in shots (11-10), shots-on-goal (6-5) and corner kicks (4-3). Kenna Caldwell made four saves in goal for the Aggies.

The Aggies, the only team in the nation to start the season with three consecutive matches against top 10 opponents, used the decisive victory to bounce back from one-goal defeats at No. 1 Florida State and No. 8 TCU.

An announced crowd of 4,330 fans was treated to Aggie pyrotechnics during and after the match. A post-match fireworks display kicked off the 12th Man Centennial celebration.

UP NEXT…
Texas A&M is set to host Sam Houston on Friday, Sep. 3 at home with first kick at 7 p.m.

TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the team’s response to Clemson’s goal…
“I think that’s an indicator of the confidence of the girls. The confidence in each other, they weren’t going to put their heads down. They can respond by folding or they can respond by stepping up and they stepped up in a big, big way. It was a great shot by Clemson, to put it right just under the crossbar, that’s a tough ball that not many keepers in the world are going to save.”

Freshman midfielder Mia Pante
On scoring the first goal of her collegiate career…
“Honestly, there are probably no words to describe it. Macie Kolb played a brilliant ball into the box and I knew where I was in the net… I don’t know. There are so many emotions running through me right now. It was such a team effort and I thought we did so good.”

Sophomore midfielder Barbara Oliveri
On scoring her first goal of the season…
“It definitely feels good after a missed PK. Getting that one back was definitely a confidence booster. Having that first goal motivates you to go and get that second one.”

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