By: Thomas Dick, Texas A&M Athletics Communications
FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies made a late charge, but were unable to scratch out a win in a 2-1 decision against No. 8 TCU on Sunday evening in front of a venue-record crowd of 2,994 at Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium.
Taylor Pounds scored a goal from 12 yards out with 4:55 remaining in the match, cutting the TCU edge in half, but the Aggies were unable to find the equalizer with two corner kicks and a Barbara Olivieri free kick left of the penalty box in the waning moments.
The Horned Frogs found the net in the 11th minute and tacked on an insurance goal in the 77th minute.
The Aggies are in the midst of a season-opening three-game stretch against top 10 opponents, the most ambitious opening slate in the nation. The Maroon & White opened the season with a 1-0 loss at No. 1 Florida State last Thursday. Texas A&M opens the home schedule Saturday against No. 7 Clemson.
The Horned Frogs owned the advantages in shots (10-6), shots-on-goal (3-1) and corner kicks (5-4) for the match.
Playing with four forwards not dressed to play, the Aggies struggled to get possession up top in the opening act. TCU held the advantages in shots (7-2), shots-on-goals (2-0) and corner kicks (2-1).
The Aggies’ best scoring opportunity in the first half came in the 18th minute. Makhiya McDonald stripped the ball from a TCU defender and stormed into the penalty box. She out-maneuvered the same defender a trio of times before finally getting fouled to the left of the penalty arc. Olivieri took firmly driven free kick that was on target, but hit the head of a Horned Frogs’ defender for a corner kick.
McDonald and Hayes recorded their first career assists for Texas A&M, contributing on Pounds’ goal.
UP NEXT
The Aggies return to action Saturday when they host the No. 7 Clemson Tigers in a 7 p.m. contest at Ellis Field. It marks Texas A&M’s Fish Camp Game, annually one of the most highly attended collegiate soccer matches in the national.
SCORING SUMMARY
TCU | 11′ – With TCU attacking down the left touchline, the Horned Frogs sent hard cross into the 6-yard box where a sliding Karlina Sample redirected it into goal for an own goal. 1-0 TCU.
TCU | 77′ – Brandi Peterson sent a shot in from left of the penalty arc, sneaking a shot past the outstretched paw of Aggie keeper Kenna Caldwell at the far post. 2-0 TCU
A&M | 86′ – Maile Hayes played a ball into the 6-yard box from the right corner of the penalty box. With her back to goal, Makhiya McDonald delivered a first-touch pass to Taylor Pounds two yards right of the penalty spot and Pounds blasted it to the left of the keeper. 2-1 TCU
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the match…
“We can’t come in and play as poorly as we started and expect to get a result against a quality team like TCU. They were fantastic in front of a record crowd for them. With that said, we were still in the game at the end. On the defensive end, we gave up an own goal and a goal on a cross that takes a fluky bounce and goes in. We didn’t play well enough to win and TCU took advantage of it like top 10 teams do.”
On Saturday’s match at Clemson…
“We’ll be happy to get back home and get a solid week of practice and training to get ourselves ready for another super opponent in Clemson.”