COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M sophomore forward Ally Watt scored a quick goal in each half to lead the Aggies to a 2-1 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks Friday evening at Ellis Field.
The win was the third in a row for Texas A&M who improved to 7-2-1 overall and 3-1-0 in SEC play. Arkansas dropped to 6-6-1 overall and 1-2-1 in league action.
Watt needed just 98 seconds to get the Aggies on the scoreboard with the icebreaker. Emily Bates took control of the ball in the top of the defensive third and raced 40 yards down the inside right channel before sending a pass to Haley Pounds at the top of the 18-yard box. Pounds used her first touch to send an offering to Watt on the left side of the box. Watt cut inside with one dribble and threaded a missile past one defender and between the keeper and the left post for her third goal of the season.
The Colorado Springs, Colo., native struck again 2:30 into the second half. Kendall Ritchie, taking a free kick in the center circle, sent a boomer to the edge of the six-yard box. An Arkansas defender got a head on it for the clearance. For the Aggies, the ball fortuitously found Watt at the top of the 18-yard box and she sent a half volley over the keeper for the 2-0 lead.
The Razorbacks trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the 71st minute. Katie Kienstra worked the ball down to the end line on the left side of the penalty box. She reversed play to get around a defender and uncorked a shot from 12 yards out. The ball went through traffic, eluding an Aggie defender and the foot of a charging Arkansas player to find the right netting.
One of the best shots of the night didn’t go in goal for Texas A&M. In the 61st minute, Cienna Arrieta, the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week ripped a left-footed shot from the left corner of the penalty box. The scorcher hit the right post with a thud and went all the way across the face of the goal before the Razorbacks were clear of danger.
The offensive numbers were fairly even on the evening with Arkansas owning slim advantages in shots (13-12) and shots-on-goal (5-4) and a 3-1 edge in corner kicks.
Cosette Morché made four saves in goal for the Aggies.
Texas A&M returns to action Monday as they host the Utah Valley Wolverines in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Ellis Field.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On tonight’s performance…
“There were a couple big performances. Obviously Ally Watt with two goals was fantastic and Cosette Morché in goal with a couple saves, keeping her composure with the backline, and then Mikaela Harvey kind of put it all together in the midfield. It was a great performance and shows what a senior leadership looks like. She’s someone who has been so special for her four years here. It was a great night and a great game for her team.”
Sophomore forward Ally Watt
On her two goals tonight…
“They happened so fast it was hard for me to remember, but I just know that we were doing what we were supposed to do. Miki (Harvey) was taking the field, taking balls on, guarding on defense, and really opening the space for us. I just ran wide for her hoping to give her an option to hopefully give us our first shot on goal, and my first shot went in so that was great. Then we knew we had to come out strong in the second half because we usually let teams come in during the first half and the first ten minutes, so we came out strong and got it a little early so that we could get a really good start to the second half and hold off the team.”
On building consistency for conference play…
“Like Phil (Stephenson) said, we’re starting to get things rolling here, and we’re just starting to figure out what we need to do to win. We still have some things to work on, but it’s great to see that we’ve got so much to improve on but we’re still getting those wins, and we can only get better from here.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics