LSU fought hard today, especially in the second half, and really pushed A&M to the limit. They probably deserved a tie in regulation the way they controlled the match down the stretch. No one has really done that to us all season outside of maybe Arkansas in spurts. They are going to be a problem in the future when their new coach gets her players into the program.

I thought A&M played well in the first half with lots of good possession as usual, but unfortunately that was offset by our worst half of the season in the second half. It was a lifeless effort in the final 30 minutes of the match, usually just content with kicking the ball away from LSU or relying on a long ball out of the back to get a breather for the back line. I don't know why the box formation completely broke down and was almost nonexistent for much of that half, but that won't get it done against Vandy. It was also alarming to see a team that had a full week off gassed before a team that had already played 2 games in the tourney. That really surprised me.

Caldwell had a great game in goal. She was always well positioned, which proved critical in a few of those quick shots by LSU in the second half, and she didn't make any mistakes the entire match. I think we have finally found our GK going forward. Kudos to her for hanging in there and winning the job.

Carroll is clearly nowhere near 100% and I think she has actually regressed a bit in the last few weeks. It's obvious when she is in a footrace with defenders because she doesn't have the burst she did in week 1. If there is any danger that she might futher injure herself, we need to sit her for the rest of the tourney. The good news is that she should be healthy for the Spring season.

There were just too many missed chances in front of goal today, several by McCain, a bad miss by Dumond (who is defender so maybe that shouldn't count), and another miss by Kolb. I thought Olivieri was going to score on her quick shot in the second half but it was a good save by the LSU GK. The goal by Lopez was great but it was also a bad mistake by the GK.

Survive and advance is the goal in the tourney and we did that today. However, this needs to be a much more focused and determined team against Vandy or the Fall season is over.

We got the win but it was not a thing of beauty. The first half was fairly solid with decent movement, control and distribution. The second half was a mess. We did not handle the increased pace and pressure that LSU brought to the final half. Many of our players looked out of sync and flustered. Our passing and possession was not very good as the game wore on. There appeared to be much less team play and much more individual play by the Aggies. We are lucky that LSU has a hard time scoring . Fortunately, our defense and goal keeping was solid.

Vandy will be tough for the Aggies unless they get back to what got them here. Greater possession,
Poise and control. Vanderbilt has really grown as a team as the season progressed.