COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 5 Texas A&M allowed a flurry of late goals by No. 18 Tennessee as the Aggies dropped a 4-0 decision to the Volunteers in the regular-season home finale Sunday afternoon at Ellis Field.
After playing to a stalemate in the first 74 minutes, the Volunteers broke the scoring seal with the first of Danielle Marcano’s two goals and then added three more goals in the next 6:12 to put the match out of reach.
The Aggies held a slight edge in shots (19-18) for the match, but Tennessee owned a 7-6 advantage in shots-on-goal and an 8-4 margin in corner kicks. A combination of various results around the league gave Vanderbilt its first SEC regular-season title since 1994, with one game remaining on the league slate.
Texas A&M had a couple golden chances to take the lead early in the second half, but Vols’ goalkeeper Shae Yanez made full extension diving save on a missile by Emily Bates in the 52nd minute and Kendall Ritchie bent in a corner kick in the 72nd minute that was on a path to the goal before hitting the crossbar.
The loss dropped Texas A&M to 14-3-1 on the season and 5-3-1 in the SEC. Tennessee improved to 12-2-2 overall and 6-2-1 in league play.
After not suffering a shutout for 31 consecutive matches, the third-longest string in school annals, the Maroon & White were blanked for the second consecutive match.
The teams played to a 0-0 draw in the opening stanza. Tennessee owned an 8-5 edge in shots and 6-1 advantage in corner kicks, but the shots-on-goal were even at 2-2.
GOAL SUMMARY
75′ – M.A. Vignola played a ball into the six-yard box from the left side of the penalty box. Bunny Shaw sent a heel pass from the near post to Marcano at the far post for the shot. UT 1, A&M 0.
76′ – Shaw sent a long ball in from the center stripe. Anna Bialczak outran the defense to track the ball down heading into the penalty box for a one-on-one with the keeper. UT 2, A&M 0.
80′ – Shaw received a pass with back to goal on the left corner of the penalty box. She created space and took a shot from 15 yards out. UT 3, A&M 0.
81′ – Marcano muscled out an Aggie defender for 10 yards before getting a shot off from the penalty spot. UT 4, A&M 0.
UP NEXT
The Aggies wrap up the 2018 regular-season slate Thursday when they head to South Carolina for a 6 p.m. match against the Gamecocks.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On the match…
“You have to give credit where credit is due. We made four mistakes and they punished us for it. We had chances to score, we didn’t score to go ahead. Kendall {Ritchie} put in some great serves that nobody got on the end of. You can’t let a team off the hook as many times as we let them off the hook. They’re a good side. They’ve got very good players and they’re going to punish you when you make mistakes.”
Sophomore midfielder Addie McCain
On the match…
“We need to get back to doing what we were doing when we were winning. I think that everybody is just a little shocked. Today we came out with the intensity and we thought we were there. We had possession a lot in the start of the second half and then it just went downhill. So, we just need a reset, and to refocus for South Carolina because every day is a new day.”
On Texas A&M’s mistakes…
“We made a mistake and they capitalized each and every time. It’s hard to make mistakes against good teams and not have them do what they did. We need to learn from our mistakes and know you can’t make mistakes against good teams and still expect to come out on top. We need to refocus and get back to what we were doing – passing the ball around and scoring goals. I think it will all come together. Like I said, every day is a new day and we just have to get after it.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics