Not an official BTHO thread, but Aggie soccer has an exhibition match at home tonight. 7PM, free admission.

See y'all there.

Goal 1: Mia Pante 70th min. 1-0
Goal 2: Anderson Williams 88th min. 2-0

Much better second half. Had some better possession. Two nice finishes on the goals, and should have had another.
Caldwell had a couple nice saves over the course of the game.

This team is so young I expect them to improve over the course of the season as much as any team we have ever had.

Some thoughts on the game tonight:

I may have to adjust my expectations for the team this year because I was a bit surprised by what I saw tonight. It looks like we started with a 3-4-3 formation but it was very ineffective in the first half. We were missing a few players tonight with Katie Smith and Laney Carroll (only 9 minutes played) on the bench. There was a lot of different combinations used and several players moving around the field all night to other positions. I understand why the coaches are doing this because it's difficult to find the right chemistry in the middle of the field right now. The lack of cohesion and ability to work the ball through the midfield was depressing, at least for the first 70 minutes of the match. At times it looked our back line was the midfield, passing around the back and then playing long balls to the forwards. Thankfully the final rotation in the midfield started to gain some possession and allowed better opportunities for the strikers, which resulted in a couple of late goals. Baylor had a decent team and put a lot of pressure on us all night, and they certainly won the first half. 2-0 was not indicative of the game at all. If it weren't for Mia Pante and Barbara Olivieri taking over late, it's a 0-0 draw.

Sawyer Dumond started on the back line with Smith's absence, so it was her, Karlina Sample, and our budding star Pante on the outside. Pante lived up to my high expectations and had some stellar, poised play both in the back and in the attacking third because she was moving to midfield/forward in the second half to get some more possession and create chances for the team. She scored a great goal on a cross from Macie Kolb, beating a defender and blasting it past the GK. She also added an assist to her fellow Canadian Anderson Williams a few minutes later on a breakaway run when Baylor was pushing forward and got caught off guard in the back. Pante had a heck of a debut for a freshman in her first game at Ellis Field. Sample was solid and didn't make mistakes, which will be critical this season with a challenged midfield and only 3 in the back. Dumond was also efficient but obviously Smith adds another dimension going forward into the attack. Finally, Caldwell seems to have improved in the offseason and she was very solid and make a couple of nice saves, so I'm finally feeling better about the GK position.

Makhiya McDonald made her debut tonight at home as well and she showed flashes of her track speed and ability to take on defenders 1v1. She will need to learn to shoot a bit more instead of looking for the perfect final pass or multiple moves for a point blank shot, but I think she has a bright future. Ali Russell got the start tonight with her improving play dating back to the NCAA tournament. I think with her type of play the midfield might be a better fit and the coaches did move her there in the second half with better results. Williams made her first start tonight in the central forward position but had little impact in the first half. Of course some of that was the inability of the midfield to get the ball forward at all. Natalie Abel also played significant minutes and showed some flashes of talent with her aggressive play. Jai Smith and Lauren Geczik had limited minutes. The bright spot tonight was another freshmen Maile Hayes, who seemed to be all over the field and then moved to midfield in the second half. She was too aggressive at times, but I really liked her ability to win possession and get the ball moving up field. I definitely think she could be a starter in the midfield going forward.

Unfortunately, the midfield was a bit of a mess tonight. Olivieri played more an attacking mid, but the real issue is at the defensive mid position, someone who can get the ball from the back line and move it forward. Kate Colvin, Kendall Bates, and Kolb joined her but the group just didn't click at all. Both Colvin and Kolb had subpar games, but Bates did show some flashes in the second half. Olivieri simply didn't touch the ball much in the first half as Baylor did a good job defending her. Carissa Boeckmann made her anticipated appearance as well and she was up and down in her play. She has talent but the speed of play is faster than she is used to at this point. Once she adjusts I think she will be a mainstay in the middle. The good news is that Taylor Pounds came off the bench and really provided stability and possession in the second half. She is a strong player and wins headers as well. I think she may be our best option to replace Taylor Ziemer in the defensive mid position. Overall this group has a long way to go but maybe the combination of Pounds, Hayes, Olivieri, Russell, and Kolb might be our best bet for now. I would definitely play 5 in the midfield and go back to what worked last year with our box formation. We don't need 3 forwards right now. The midfield is more important.

Like I mentioned at the start, I may have to adjust my expectations because that was not an elite team on the field tonight. Now I fully expect us to improve throughout the season and be much better in November, but these first few weeks could be rough for sure. I don't see us being any match for FSU on Thursday night, and TCU should probably handle us as well next weekend. Obviously I hope I'm wrong and getting players in the right spot will solve these issues. I wish I had a more encouraging recap, but right now we're just not clicking yet. I didn't expect Ziemer to be such a big loss in the defensive midfield, but that's the reality. Pounds' play in the last 30 minutes at least gives us hope that she could step into the role. This season will really depend on a cohesive midfield that can hold the ball long enough to create enough pressure in the offensive third. Otherwise, we may be in for a transitional year to 2022, where we have some real talent coming in to help in the middle of the field. But again, find the right combination and this season can still be a very good one.

Just a few really quick thoughts about each unit.

The defense struggled. There were a few bad miscues and unforced errors that could have led to Baylor goals. It was the type of stuff we can't do opening up against 3 ranked teams.

Midfield looked rough. They had issues just possessing the ball. 50/50 balls were going to Baylor. The unit isn't cohesive yet and had issues pushing the ball forward. They were very tentative and fell into playing the ball back to the defense. They didn't handle the physicality of Baylor well.

Our forwards showed some talent. Some good individual efforts and ball handling in the offensive third. They were more efficient than usual - 2 goals on 8 shots I believe. I will point out one player, McDonald. She has a second gear that I didn't realize. She can blaze off the ball, when she got going it looked like she was winding up for the long jump. Great ball handling skills as well. She'll be fun to watch.

I guess I'll point out another individual because the goalkeeping was great, and that was all Caldwell. She had a few nice saves and earned her clean sheet. She was a strength of the team.

Baylor was better than expected. And physical, which played well against A&M. I was impressed with how well they played together and communicated all over the field. I know nothing about Baylor, but they seem to be familiar with each other and more experienced.

I think that's what it comes down to for A&M - experience. We had flashes and there is certain talent there. But some of the issues were just cohesion and confidence. As the team plays together and gets more confident in what they're doing, I think the potential goes up quick. Get this attack more opportunities and they'll get goals. The defense was a bit concerning to me. Especially with our schedule. We're coming out the gate against three ranked teams, so regardless of potential, the Aggies are going to need to play better to come away with some wins. This was a nice tune up match, hopefully we get some of those errors out of our system. It was nice to finish on such a high. We'll need that confidence.

Great crowd last night too. Impressed to see the west side stands mostly filled. We may have had more fans than Mississippi will see all year.


EDIT: I'll add that reading my statements above make it seem like we lost. We certainly earned the exhibition win. It's a lot more fun to nitpick a 2-0 win than it is to analyze a loss
And keep in mind this was an exhibition. We got a lot of players minutes tonight. And most of all, it was good to be back in the stands.

In the pre-game interview coach G said that Maile Hayes had been nicked up and might play only a few minutes. She played 53. Every team is going to focus on Olivieri. I was surprised that Caldwell played the entire game. With McDonald's speed we might have some success playing long balls.

CDub06 said:

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Our forwards showed some talent. Some good individual efforts and ball handling in the offensive third. They were more efficient than usual - 2 goals on 8 shots I believe. I will point out one player, McDonald. She has a second gear that I didn't realize. She can blaze off the ball, when she got going it looked like she was winding up for the long jump. Great ball handling skills as well. She'll be fun to watch.

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I agree that McDonald is going to be very good. She has all the tools to live up to her potential. Sometimes she would get trapped in a corner or waited too long to make a decision on the ball. Once she gets past that first defender she is very dangerous and difficult to stop.

mullokmotx said:

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In the pre-game interview coach G said that Maile Hayes had been nicked up and might play only a few minutes. She played 53.

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Yes, the biggest surprise of the night for me was the play of Hayes. She has a great motor and fights for every ball around her, which sometimes results in fouls. But I'll take it. She also has skill on the ball and can play multiple positions. Excited about her future.