Aggie Soccer Topples No. 3 TCU, 1-0

Story by Thomas Dick, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 23 Texas A&M Aggies put an exclamation on their NCAA Tournament résumé Saturday night with a 1-0 victory over the No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs at Ellis Field.

The Lone Star foes engaged in a 90-minute donnybrook with the Maroon & White notching the sole goal in the 57th minute when Lauren Geczik sent a low driven ball under a diving keeper from 10 yards out.

The victory snapped TCU’s 10-match winning streak and tainted the Horned Frogs’ ledger with their only loss of the 2020-21 campaign as they dropped to 10-1-1.

The Aggies’ improved to 11-3-0 on the season and along with Saturday’s win over a third-ranked squad; the Maroon & White boast a share of the SEC regular-season title.

Texas A&M’s backline of Kate Colvin, Taylor Pounds, Karlina Sample and Katie Smith confounded TCU’s high-powered offense, limiting the Horned Frogs’ leading scorer Yazmeen Ryan to a lone, non-menacing, shot. Kenna Caldwell made saves on the three shots that got through the backline for her sixth goal of the season and the Aggies’ eighth clean sheet of the campaign.

The Horned Frogs owned a 9-1 edge in corner kicks and 13-12 advantage in shots, but the Maroon & White had a 4-3 edge in shots on goal, making the most of the limited chances in the defensive struggle.

SCORING SUMMARY
57′ | Macie Kolb pounded a cross into the box from the right flank, deflecting off a TCU defender and settling at the feet of Lauren Geczik four yards off the left corner of the 6-yard box. Geczik sent a low driven shot under a diving Horned Frogs’ netminder for the icebreaker. A&M 1, TCU 0.

UP NEXT…
The NCAA Division I Championship selection show is slated for Monday, April 19 at Noon Central Time. The tournament begins on Tuesday, April 27 with all of the matches played in various cities throughout North Carolina.

TEXAS A&M QUOTE
Head Coach G Guerrieri

On the team’s performance against the former No. 3-team in the nation…
“I thought it was gutsy all the way around. It’s how you would hope a Texas A&M team would come out and play. This is a high-pressure game for us. We needed to win to ensure that we were going to be in the NCAA Tournament. Now I think that we would probably get a bye in the first round – we should be a top-eight seed. I couldn’t be happier for the performance, and the girls kept their concentration. We had eight underclassmen in our lineup tonight, so that’s a nice accomplishment for a young but getting more and more experienced team. I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Freshman midfielder Lauren Geczik
On scoring the goal that may have sealed an NCAA Tournament bid…
“It feels amazing. It was such an amazing ball by Macie. It was a combination of all of the work we did, so it just came together perfectly.”

On comparing this goal to the other two that she has scored this season…
“To come out here and beat the #3 team in the country. It was such a team effort and it was the best feeling ever.”

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