COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Mikaela Harvey notched the game-winner with 25 seconds left in the first sudden death overtime period to send the Texas A&M Aggies to a 2-1 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats on Senior Night at Ellis Field.
The end game was set up by Haley Pounds at the left corner of the penalty box. She worked the ball towards the penalty arc before sending a pass to Grace Piper at the top of the box. With her back to goal, Piper used her left foot to poke a pass to a charging Harvey. Harvey took one dribble and sent a shot from 20 yards, putting a howitzer over the head of Kentucky backup keeper Ayanna Parker who was playing six yards off the line.
The goal capped off a come-from-behind win for Texas A&M Aggies (8-7-1, 3-5-1 SEC) who had been snake bitten during an injury-riddled six-match winless streak.
Kentucky (4-8-4, 0-6-3 SEC) claimed the lead early in the match with Zoe Swift scoring her fifth goal of the season in the third minute of action. Kaitlin Miller punched a shot toward goal from 10 yards out on the right side. Her missile was blocked by a Texas A&M defender but Swift gathered the carom and found herself unmarked in the six-yard box, putting the shot home for the 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats led 1-0 at the intermission despite an evenly played first half. The shots were even at 4-4 with Texas A&M owning a 3-1 edge in shots-on-goal. Kentucky owned a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Texas A&M’s recent run of misfortunes appeared to be continuing early in the second half, when Kentucky was awarded a penalty kick in the 50th minute. But as she has done on numerous occasions for the Aggies, senior Danielle Ricestonewalled a penalty kick. Rice guessed the correct way on Sophie Babo’s shot and made the save with her lower body.
Rice’s save breathed new life into the Aggies’ offense and they came out with a vengeance in search of an equalizer. The flurry didn’t pay dividends early as two solid scoring attempts by Pounds were squashed out by Wildcats’ starting goalkeeper Evangeline Soucie as the match neared the 60-minute mark.
The Aggies kept chipping away and finally knotted the contest in the 74th minute. Pounds dribbled passed a Kentucky defender down the right flank. Three yards before reaching the end line, she sent a low driving cross towards the six-yard box. Soucie attempted to pounce on the pass, but it skipped under her and found the left foot of Sarah Shaw. The senior put it in the back of the net to tie the contest at 1-1.
Soucie played out standing in goal for the Wildcats, making eight saves in goal before she had to leave the match with an injury with 19 seconds remaining in the second half.
Texas A&M owned the advantages in shots (17-14) and shots-on-goal (11-3) for the match while Kentucky held an 8-3 edge in corner kicks.
The Aggies return to action for their regular-season home finale Sunday at 5 pm against the No. 11 Auburn Tigers.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the comeback…
“It wasn’t looking great early, but this team showed the character and the mental toughness that we’ve been needing all year long. This is a big result. To play behind from the third minute of the game and get a great goal to finish it, it’s a courageous win. It’s the kind of mental toughness that we’ve been asking of the team and they really showed it tonight. It was a great goal by a senior (Sarah Shaw) to tie it up and a great save by a senior (Danielle Rice) on the penalty kick to keep us in reach. Mikaela Harvey showed some great fight and want to get the win. I’m really, really happy for the girls. They’ve deserved this for a while and they finally found a way to get it done.”
On Danielle Rice‘s penalty kick save…
“Dani Rice now has faced 10 penalty kicks at Texas A&M. She’s saved five of them. It’s just a remarkable ability that she has. That save switched the energy. It changed from them to us. Then the belief came when Sarah [Shaw] was able to get the goal.”
Junior midfielder Mikaela Harvey
On the feeling after she scored the winning goal in overtime…
“Oh, it was so nice. It was amazing. Everyone is so solid on this team and everyone is fighting so hard. It was just amazing for all of us to come together and score a goal.”
On moving forward…
“I think it’s really good for us because our team has been fighting the whole entire season and the score hasn’t always shown how hard we’ve been working. It is just really good to finally make it pay off.”
Senior goalkeeper Danielle Rice
On thoughts as she prepares for penalty kicks…
“As they line up to take the PK, ultimately I feel like the pressure is not on me. It’s on the shooter. They’re the one that is supposed to make it. I sit there and kind of read their signs. I love it because a lot of them love to stare at the left post and go right and things like that. A lot of times they just make it so obvious.”
Senior midfielder Sarah Shaw
On getting the goal at the right time…
“It’s constant dedication to the team and the 12th Man. I’m lucky to have big moments come my way. Other players on our team could’ve scored too. I was just the one in there.”