No. 23 Texas A&M hands No. 3 TCU first loss in home upset, 1-0
Nothing stands between No. 23 Texas A&M and the NCAA Soccer Tournament.
A&M defeated No. 3 Texas Christian University on Saturday, 1-0. Prior to this contest, the Aggies were on a two-game win streak after defeating Louisiana Lafayette and Texas State. This was the last game for A&M prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, April 27.
The Aggies served TCU its first loss of this entire season, including the fall slate.
A&M head coach G. Guerrieri said this win should determine a lot for the NCAAs.
“Now, I think that we probably get a bye in the first round,” Guerrieri said. “We should be a top-eight seed. I couldn't be happier from the performance.”
The first half saw six shots from the Aggies and five from the Frogs. However, none of the shots went in for either team.
This changed early on in the second half. Just over 10 minutes in, A&M freshman forward Lauren Geczik launched one into the net. Geczik was assisted by junior midfielder Macie Kolb.
Geczik said scoring the deciding goal was a great feeling.
“It feels amazing,” Geczik said. “It was such an amazing ball by Macie. That’s all we've been talking about is the in-line pullback cross and it was like the culmination of all the work we did. So it just came together perfectly.”
The Aggies’ lone senior on the roster, midfielder Taylor Ziemer, recorded the most shots of the first half with three.
Ziemer said A&M deserves a bye in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I think that we have shown that we deserve to get a bye, we at least deserve to get into the tournament and that we can compete with anybody,” Ziemer said.
Possession was consistently back and forth throughout the contest. The official possession stat was almost exactly 50% to 50%.
With the Frogs being the third-best team in the nation, sophomore goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell saw a lot of activity.
The Lone Tree, Colorado native recorded three saves and numerous plays where she came out of the box to cancel an attempted shot.
“Kenna is a sophomore and she gets better and better,” Guerrieri said. “It's a tough position. I saw someone who equated to being a goalkeeper like the guys who mix the formula for dynamite; one mistake and it all blows up. She was mistake-free tonight.”
The NCAA Tournament is set to be played in North Carolina, with the specific site to be determined. The first round is slated for Tuesday, April 27 to Wednesday, April 28.
Prior to the start of the spring slate, Guerrieri said that the team was yearning to hold up the trophy in the end. Now, Guerrieri said the team feels they can achieve that goal.
“We think, now we have a chance [to be holding up that trophy],” Guerrieri said. “I don’t think you can underplay how tough it is to get into the NCAA Tournament… I think it says a lot for our youngsters and what our future looks like.”