OXFORD, Mississippi – The Texas A&M Aggies rallied late, with two goals in the final 19 minutes, including Shea Groom’s game-winner in the 79th minute, to register a 2-1 comeback win over the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford on Sunday afternoon.
The win marked the fifth in a row for Texas A&M. The Maroon and White improved to 9-1-1 overall and ended the second weekend of league play tied with Florida atop the SEC standings with a 3-0-0 record. The Aggies and Gators square off at Ellis Field on Friday in a match of the highest profile at 7 pm.
After a scoreless first half, the Rebels dumped A&M’s tea into the harbor in the 62nd minute. With Ole Miss’ second corner kick opportunity of the match, Courtney Carroll sent a ball halfway between the six-yard box and the penalty spot, finding the head of Jessica Hiskey. Hiskey redirected the ball to Maddie Friedmann by the far post and she sent it into the back netting to give Ole Miss a 1-0 lead.
With Ole Miss (6-3-3, 1-1-2) looking to milk the clock, Allie Bailey taxed the Rebels’ spirits in the 72nd minute, busting up the rebellion with a shot from 20 yards. Bailey took a pass from Leigh Edwards down the left flank. Edwards continued on a run down the touchline to draw two defenders, giving Bailey a chance cut into space near the penalty box. The senior launched a missile from 20 yards into the right upper ninety for the equalizer.
Shea’s rebellion came in the 79th minute as she beat a defender into the left side of the penalty box. Groom eventually worked to the left side of the six-yard box and drove a shot at a near impossible angle into the right side netting for the decisive goal.
The Aggies survived a Rebel uprising in the waning moments of the contest. Ole Miss was awarded a free kick just outside the left corner of the penalty box with 20 seconds remaining in the match. The ball was finally sent in with 10 seconds remaining. Olivia Harrison hit the crossbar and Hiskey had her follow-up shot blocked by the backline before Ashylnn Harryman could clear the ball, sending A&M home undefeated in league action.
In the first half, the stifling Aggies’ defense offered the Rebels a target much smaller than a womp rat. Ole Miss was able to get off just one shot. A&M owned stout advantages in shots (7-1), shots-on-goal (5-0) and corner kicks (4-0). Ole Miss netminder Kelly McCormick kept the Maroon and White off the scoreboard with five saves, including two of the diving variety.
With the win, A&M improved to 14-3-3 in matches decided by one goal or less over the last two seasons.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the match: Sunday matches in this league are always hard, especially when the other team has an extra day’s rest. It’s an unfortunate circumstance. The exposure is great, but every weekend a couple teams will be at a disadvantage in playing against the team’s that played on Thursday. We’ll have that situation two weekends in a row. I was pleased with our comeback. Ole Miss scored a nice goal on their best chance. But we were resilient and fought hard to tie the match and fought hard after that to win the match. All-in-all, a win in this league is a great win.
On Ole Miss’ opportunities in the last 10 seconds: I was proud of our backline. Our goalkeeper Renée McDermott got kicked in the head a couple of times down there, but our backline held strong and did everything they could to make sure Ole Miss didn’t get a goal.
On A&M’s goals: Allie’s (Bailey) goal was world class. She showed the initiative to work into a good shooting window. We talked about making better decisions to get better angles for our attack and she did just that. Shea (Groom) did what she has been doing all season. She used her athleticism, her skill and her determination to get into a dangerous position. She took on the defense and took a shot from an incredible angle. They didn’t want to go home without a win.
On the halftime discussion: I thought that Ole Miss did a good a job of man-marking around the field, defensively. Even though we had the game in control the first half, we weren’t quite dangerous enough. We talked about taking shots closer to goal and making better decisions on the move as to how we were going to break them down. We didn’t draw up Allie’s goal though. That was pure genius by her.
Senior Forward Allie Bailey
On her goal: Leigh (Edwards) made a really good pass down the line. And then she continued to make a great run so she pulled two defenders away when I cut in. I dribbled to the top of the box and had a clear shot so I took it.
On winning on the road: This win was really big for us. We are able to stay perfect in the SEC and now we get a couple games at home, so we can hopefully build some momentum.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics