Jim01 said:

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Gig'em!!!!!!

I do have to say as a soccer dad to a girl my heart breaks for those two OSU girls who missed.

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My 11 year old sailed one last weekend in a state tourney and he still hasnt recovered

Very tough way to lose

Extremely lucky for OSU to flat out miss 2 PKs. Nice finish by Carroll just kicking it down the middle as GKs always move to one side or another. Somehow we survive a match that we dominated statistically.

Full review coming up later today.

Congrats ladies. So exciting!!!!! Loved your tenacity. Now on to quarters.

Jim01 said:

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Yeah. If you put it on frame and the goalie blocks it, that's one thing. To sail it or hit the bar is a gut punch.

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Meh dont step up to take em if you cant handle the results

Gotta love the support from all of the A&M sports team. Gig'em!!!

Sorry I missed it. I'll have to watch the OTs and PKs later tonight.

Way to go Ags.

🎱

Laney Carroll sends us to the Elite 8 with this PK!#GigEm | 👍 pic.twitter.com/GzOY6qRduu

— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) May 5, 2021

TAMU and OSU are both quality soccer teams.

Aggies advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laney Carroll with the nail in the coffin!

She was in post game media for quotes, so I think she's okay!

UNC won. Ags will face them next

coloradoag69 said:

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UNC / UW was a really tight game. NC scored on a corner kick to the far post. UW had a point blank chance inside the box that hit the NC keeper in the stomach. That really was about it that I saw.

NC kept throwing almost complete team-changes on the field both halves. It's quite a luxury for them. They also have the advantage of staying on campus, while the non-Carolina teams have been in a hotel room for a week now.

At least with the game on Saturday, we'll have enough time to recover from the overtime game.

I know we want to advance and I genuinely think we have a decent chance to do so. But I think we are playing with house money now, and I hope our players feel that way, too.

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My sister played for UNC. This is what Anson Dorrance does. Back then he had all the talent but is still really deep even today. The key to beating them is to play physical in the midfield. UW did that for about 3/4 of the game. It really wrecks their offense. You can't sit back like OSU tried to do us and then counter attack.

First, we have to give a lot of credit to this young team and the coaches, which lost Lopez and McCain from the Fall season, and found a way to get to the Elite 8. That's a big deal in a year when not much was expected from them. The freshmen have been better than advertised and I do find it interesting that Coach G has some of his best seasons when not much is expected from teams that are young and/or rebuilding. See 2008, 2015, and now 2020. And, unfortunately, the reverse also has been true as with some of his most talented teams underachieving. But this team has some real chemistry this Spring that carried over from the Fall, and they have found ways to win.

A&M dominated the Cowboys in every statistical category and had the vast majority of possession. We should have won this game going away. But Coach Carmichael made a shrewd decision to play the counter game against us by simply waiting for us to make mistakes and it worked. They stayed in the game by scoring two goals off quick counters on A&M miscues in the middle of the field. I think he had been watching some tape of how we give teams most of their opportunities with silly back passes and square balls across the back line, and bad decisions in our defensive third. I continue to be perplexed why our coaching staff allows this to continue game after game. There is simply no reason to play weak, uncertain, long back passes (or square balls) to another defender or the GK, which only puts them under unnecessary pressure and leads to mistakes and giveaways. At times today, it was simply unbelievable that we survived a couple additional ones that were not put away by the Cowboys. We absolutely must get this corrected going forward.

Having said that, some might disagree, but the backline really struggled today. Yes, they did make some good stops and blocked some shots in front of goal. But all three starters made multiple mistakes and had a few moments of lackluster defending that led to OSU goals. I know the 3-5-2 and 3-4-3 has worked well for us this season, but with the loss of Lopez I have to wonder if having only 3 in the back is the best lineup going forward. We probably don't have enough quality right now to play a fourth in the back. I don't know. But right now our margin for error is very small with Kate Colvin playing out of her natural position in the midfield. And both Sample and Smith have to make better decisions on the ball.

A&M came out and dominated the first 10 minutes and should have scored twice, but instead OSU led 1-0 after a counterstrike on a bad giveaway by Bates and then lackluster defending in the back. Thankfully we responded quickly after a free kick that was headed by Olivieri and then misplayed by the OSU GK, where Ziemer was waiting to tap it in. One of the stories of the game for A&M was the play off the bench of Jai Smith and Ali Russell, who came in late in the first half and connected on a quality goal from a cross by Smith and header by Russell to give A&M a 2-1 lead. They continued to play well in the second half and gave good energy to tired legs late in the match.

OSU scored a nice goal off a quick turn at the top of the box and buried one in the upper 90 to tie the game early in the second half. For much of the second half A&M continued to create shot after shot and set pieces both at the top of the box and on corner kicks (we had 16 today!) but just didn't have any real quality finishing touch around the goal. Yes, we scored 3 goals but when you take 38 shots (maybe an NCAA record for us?) and 16 of them are on frame, you probably should score 5-6 goals. We also continued to have many shots sail well over the crossbar, which is always frustrating because it's simple technique that can be corrected. It finally came back to bite us when OSU scored on a breakaway when Sample who bit on a quick rebounded pass which gave an OSU forward a step on her and then calmly slotted it past Caldwell for the 3-2 lead. At that point I thought it was over because we just couldn't convert our chances, however, we finally scored the equalizer off ironically a corner kick (and some bad OSU marking) when the ball bounced around in the box and landed perfectly for Taylor Pounds to smash in the back of the net to tie the game with 10 minutes left. A&M barely escaped a huge error by Caldwell when Colvin made a weak high bouncing pass back to her in the box, where she fumbled it away and had to recover to make a quick save off the post. A&M had the benefit of playing with a man advantage when OSU was red carded and we had the possession and chances to end the game, especially in the 2OT when both Ziemer and Olivieri missed great chances to score from point blank range.

A&M has historically been very good at PK shootouts, but we have lost some of them in recent years and we don't have that elite GK to feel confident we will get at least one stop. And it played out that way as OSU made two unforced errors off-frame so Burbank (who came on for Caldwell) didn't have to actually make a stop (although the second miss off the post she had covered even if it would have been inside the post). Thank goodness because we missed one when the OSU GK guessed where Geczik was going. The clinching penalty shot by Carroll was a no-doubter and we could finally breathe a sigh of relief in a match that would have been a shame had we been eliminated.

As stated earlier, the midfield played well with Olivieri and Ziemer (who had an astonishing 23 combined shots) having strong matches. The unit dominated possession and set up scoring opportunities all game long. At forward, Carroll didn't have quite the burst she had against South Florida, but she did create some chances with 4 shots (2 on goal). Russell really played well, probably her best match of the season as she was active and scored that lovely header. And Jai Smith also had her best game. On a final note, the referee today called a very tight game, a little too tight for an NCAA tourney game.

Survive and advance is the name of the game in the NCAA tourney, so it was a successful day. Obviously getting past North Carolina is a tall order. They are more talented and have had a very good season. I watched their game today vs Washington and they struggled for long stretches of the match, especially in the first half. They were disjointed with possession and didn't have a lot of cohesiveness. They scored one goal off a well-executed corner kick, but their quality of possession was questionable, and they didn't create a lot of shots (they were outshot in the game). If A&M shows up to play focused, especially on the backline, and we can finish more chances in front of goal, we have a real chance to advance to our second College Cup appearance (we are 1-5 in Elite 8 games), where the championship is wide open right now with UCLA eliminated. Only Florida St looks better than everyone else. Again, congrats to these young girls because they have accomplished something truly special in a very difficult year. They deserve to celebrate.

Just before OSU scored the first goal I thought Kendall Bates was grabbed by the arm and pulled down. G was complaining to the official about it. OSU was really marking Barbara. Several times when she went to jump they had their hands on the top of her shoulders holding her down. I thought in the OT we should have played the ball to Laney's side as she seemed to be unstoppable. G had been saying that Jordan would be in goal for a shootout and then she never touched the ball. And she's from Oklahoma. This format is a challenge for the player's parents as they are racking up frequent flier miles to watch their daughters play the biggest games of their careers.

Hidden and Mullok,

Thanks for your analyses. I always look forward to the knowledgeable thoughts from folks who have a more technical understanding of the game.

I got to watch the end of the first half and about half of the second half of the UW / UNC game. Either UW is really good or UNC isn't quite the powerhouse that I expected, especially since they are essentially playing at home. One of their biggest advantages, IMO, was that were able to substitute what looked like an entire 2nd team in both halves, providing long periods of fresh legs. I think the announcer said the "2nd" team scored the goal.

They will also try to be all over us for the entire field. They won't be sitting back in their defensive end like OSU did much of the game yesterday.

We have a decent chance Saturday. Given everything, that's good enough for me.