KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – The No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies exorcised their Regal Stadium demons Friday night with a 3-1 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers.
Winless in their four previous road matches against the Vols, the Maroon & White pounced for two first half goals to take a 2-0 lead at the intermission. The Aggies added a goal in the 58th minute and held off a late Tennessee charge to record their third victory in a row.
Texas A&M improved to 4-1-0 on the season while the Volunteers dropped to 2-3-1.
Lauren Geczik scored the first two goals of her career, both in the first half. Addie McCain tallied her fourth goal of the season in the second half. The Maroon & White got assists from Karlina Sample, the first of her career, and Taylor Ziemer.
Geczik was the third different Aggie to score multiple goals in a game this season, joining McCain, who had two goals in the opener versus Ole Miss, and Barbara Olivieri, who recorded a brace against Mississippi State in A&M’s most recent contest.
The Aggies were the aggressors in the first half, owning distinct advantages in shots (8-3), shots-on-goal (5-1) and corner kicks (3-1). Tennessee showed some more life down the homestretch, but the Maroon & White still owned the edges in shots (13-9), shots-on-goal (9-3) and corner kicks (5-2).
SCORING SUMMARY
26’ – Applying one-player high pressure, Geczik forced a sloppy pass from a Volunteer keeper to a defender and then another bad pass from the defender back to the keeper. Geczik then wrangled the ball from the keeper at the top of the penalty box and raced to the left corner of the 6-yard box where she was able to dump the ball into an empty goal. A&M 1, UT 0.
38’ – Sample gathered in a Tennessee clearance near the center stripe, right of the circle. She took a couple dribbles before threading a pass through the Vols’ defense finding Geczik in the right inside channel. She was able to rip a shot from eight yards out to the left of the keeper for the brace. A&M 2, UT 0.
58’ – Barbara Olivieri served in a corner kick from the left arc. The Volunteers dumped it out of the box, but it rolled to Taylor Ziemer off the left corner. She sent a service to the top of the 6-yard box, where McCain headed it past the keeper. A&M 3, UT 0.
82’ – Aggie goalkeeper Jordan Burbank parried away a shot from Mackenzie George, but Erin Gilroy cleaned up to trim the margin to two. A&M 3, UT 1.
UP NEXT
The Aggies hit the road again next Friday for a 7 p.m. match against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the win…
“That’s another super road win for our ladies. This is a tough place to play and Tennessee is a talented, well-coached side.”
On winning at Regal Stadium…
“This has been that place and that team which we’ve struggled with since coming into the league. It took some strong performances from all our women to make it happen.”
On Lauren Geczik’s performance…
“We are happy for LG to get her first and second career goals. She’s a hard worker and she’s really smart. So it’s especially nice to see. That hard, smart work pay off.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics