TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – The Texas A&M Aggies fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide in overtime, 2-1, Sunday evening at Alabama Soccer Complex.
Alabama (7-3-1, 2-1-1 SEC) scored the winning goal in the 97thminute when Emma Welch slotted a pass into the penalty box to Abbie Boswell running towards the spot and she beat a chargingDanielle Rice to the left for the game-winner.
Texas A&M (7-4-0, 2-2-0 SEC) played its second consecutive match with four starters missing from the lineup, including forward Emily Bates, midfielders Kate Hajdu and Stephanie Malherbe and defender Ashlynn Harryman.
In the first half, both squads put a goal on the board via the penalty kick.
Texas A&M was awarded a PK in the 34th minute when Haley Pounds was taken down inside the box. Pounds converted on the attempt for her sixth goal of the year.
Alabama was granted a PK in the 40th minute when Welch tripped over feet on the edge of the box. Rice came inches from glory as she guessed the correct way but the ball got past her mitts.
The Aggies had two of the three prime chances to score non-PK goals in the first half. Pounds blistered a shot from 15 in the second minute of action causing Alabama goalkeeper Kat Stratton hit the deck for the save. In the 10th minute, the Tide’s Welch hit the crossbar from 20 yards. In the 36th minute, Pounds and Sarah Shaw ran a give-and-go with Pounds give Stratton some trouble, but she made the save to keep A&M from building a 2-0 advantage.
Neither squad was able to put a goal on the board in the second half. Texas A&M’s best chances came in the 50th minute, when Mikaela Harvey thumped a shot from 10 yards that caused Stratton to make a facial preservation save, and the 85thminute when Cienna Arrieta launched a missile from 25 yards that sailed a foot high.
The Crimson Tide nearly ended the match in the 94th minute when Taylor Hubbard uncorked a shot from 12 yards, but Rice made an athletic leaping stab to knock the ball over the crossbar.
For the match, Alabama owned a 16-13 edge in shots, including 3-0 in the overtime. Texas A&M owned the 9-8 edge in shots-on-goal and corner kicks were even at 4-4.
Rice made six saves in the loss. Stratton had to make eight saves to preserve the win for Alabama.
Texas A&M is expected to have some reinforcements in action Thursday when they host the No. 8 South Carolina Gamecocks in a 6 pm match at Ellis Field.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the match…
“This is a tough one to take. It was a back-and-forth battle. Hats off to Alabama. They found a way to get it done in the overtime. I thought our players came out and did alright, but it just wasn’t good enough.”
On Thursday’s match…
“This makes Thursday’s match incredibly important for us. South Carolina is the hottest team in the league. They’re a very talented and well-coached team. We’ve got to get our unhealthy players healthy and coach everybody else up, as well.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics