COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M registered two second-half goals in a span of 67 seconds to flip the script on an upset-minded UC Riverside. The No. 8 Aggies pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Highlanders Sunday evening at Ellis Field.
With the triumph, the Aggies ran their win streak to six matches. Texas A&M closed out the nine-match homestand and hit the midway point of the regular season with a 7-2-0 mark.
Trailing 1-0 with the game headed to the final 30 minutes, the Aggies used a corner kick to notch an equalizer. Haley Poundsserved the corner up from the left arc, sending the offering to the far post. Grace Piper outjumped her marking defender and crushed a header that one-hopped to the left side netting to tie the score at 1-1 with 30:16 remaining in the second half. It marked the second goal of the season for the freshman.
Before the Highlanders could catch their breaths, the Aggies put on an otter show to strike again. The sequence started when UC Riverside goalkeeper Alanna Guzman boomed a punt into the Texas A&M half. McKayla Paulson was five yards off the center circle when she returned the service with a header. Paulson’s header found the head of a back-pedaling Mikaela Harvey on the offensive side of the center circle. Harvey sent the ball to the attacking third where Jordan Hill was able to flick a header towards the 18-yard box. The third header found the mercurial Pounds to the right of the penalty arc and she sent a driving right-footed shot to the left of a charging Guzman and into the side netting for the 2-1 advantage with 29:09 left in the second half. The goal was a team-high fifth of the year for Pounds.
UC Riverside (3-3-3) drew first blood in the 21st minute. Blanca Barrio sent a perfect cross in from the left side of the penalty box and she found the headed of Ashley Webb who had sent it into the back of the net to snap Texas A&M’s five-match shutout streak. Prior to the goal, the Aggies went 488:41 without yielding a goal.
Texas A&M had trouble mustering offense in the first half with UC Riverside owning a 4-2 advantage in shots, but the Maroon and White brought the fury in the second half. The Aggies outshot the Highlanders 10-3 in the second half and 12-7 in the match. Texas A&M also owned the edge in shots-on-goal (6-2) and corner kicks (8-5).
The Aggies return to action Thursday as they travel to Nashville for a 7 pm contest against the Vanderbilt Commodores. With two league matches in the books, Texas A&M is tied with Arkansas and South Carolina atop the SEC standings with six points.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head coach G Guerrieri
On halftime adjustments…
“Honestly, I thought we were fortunate to only be down by one at halftime. I thought Riverside came out and played hard and put us under a lot of pressure and we didn’t respond well to it. The fact that they (UCR) only got one goal – as coaching staff we actually felt pretty good that we survived with that. At halftime there was no yelling, no screaming, no turning over furniture. It was just an understanding that there are certain things we control and the fight that we put in is one of those things. If you’re going to play a scrappy team, you’re going to have to play scrappy. I thought our team came out and immediately jumped on them and created some chances. I think a sign of a great team is that when you score, you quickly score again. You put the game away while you’ve got that team down on the mat.”
On Haley Pounds…
“She bleeds maroon more than anyone you’ll ever come across, not just because she is a legacy kid from generations and generations of Aggies. She put it on the line. She was not going to let this University take a loss. Her heart and her abilities were on display for everyone to see.”
Junior forward Haley Pounds
On her goal…
“Jordan (Hill) played an excellent ball, in behind, with her head. I was able to get it in and take a shot to the far post. So props to Jordan for being able to get her head on that to set up the goal.”
On the comeback win…
“We were told at halftime to come out and play our game. I don’t think we did we did that in the first half. So to get that goal early really boosted our confidence. I think we all knew we had to score again to get that win.”
Freshman midfielder Grace Piper
On her goal…
“In the second half, we knew we had to put the pressure on, looking for that early goal. Our forwards did a great job of earning us corner after corner. Haley put in a great ball and I had a mismatch with a smaller girl on me. I was able to out-jump her and get a head on the ball.”