It was a much-needed win for A&M tonight, not only because of the opponent, but it kept the team from having to climb out of an 0-3 start. The good atmosphere certainly helped energize the team, which finally played a good first half. It was far from perfect, and Clemson really played into our hands by deciding not to really pressure us in the midfield (a perplexing decision considering how effective it was for FSU and TCU), but it allowed our offense to finally show up this season.

A&M seems to continue to tinker with the formation, starting with what looked like a 4-4-2, then morphing into a 4-2-3-1 for most of the game. Hayes plays up top with McDonald and Pante as attacking outside mids, and Olivieri as the central attacker. Pounds and Bates play more defensive mids, with Geczik and Kolb as outside backs. Sample and Smith patrol the central defense. I have to say it's hard to argue with the result, so maybe this is the answer until Carroll and Russell return.

Lauren Geczik plays a bit of a hybrid position as an outside back to start games, but seemingly moves up into the midfield consistently to produce crosses into the box. She had a terrific game tonight, one of her best as an Aggie. She has almost made the complete transition from forward to defender, as she won many 50/50 balls and kept the opposing attack from getting too deep into the defensive third. I keep telling everyone, and I think more are starting to agree, that Katie Smith is the best player on this team. Sample and Olivieri get the headlines and accolades, but Smith is just a beast on the back line. She has not been beaten once this season (against some of the best forwards in the country) and just shuts down every attack that comes at her, including when she is a step behind. Her speed and strength are just amazing to watch. I can't remember a better all-around defender play at A&M in the 17 years I've been following this program. At this rate it might be difficult to keep her from going pro after this season unfortunately. Sample also had a solid game, however, she did have a few unnecessary turnovers that put us on our heels. Much of this is because of the continued ill-advised strategy of Caldwell passing out to the back line and putting us under pressure when a long ball kick changes the field and gives us a chance to play offense quickly. I think the coaches teach this but it's just asking for trouble over the course of a match. Kolb had an up and down game with some good passes up field and good overlapping runs and crosses into the box, however, she was beaten several times on the outside defensively, setting up some of Clemson's best scoring chances. Caldwell had a solid game and the goal scored on her was perfectly placed under the crossbar when she was a step too far off her line to cover it. But overall, this group continues to shine even though we've given up 4 goals in three games. Once the midfield stops turning the ball over, we'll start seeing some shutouts.

It was good to see the midfield play better tonight. They weren't great, but certainly improved from the first two games. There was more possession and some clear triangle passing with good, slotted passes forward that resulted in chances on goal. But there was still some sloppy play and turnovers that make it difficult to get into a rhythm. Olivieri was more active and had more chemistry with her teammates, especially with Pante on the outside who served up a perfect pass across the top of the box (after she beat her defender down the sideline on a nice move) for Barbara to put away calmly and retake the lead after Clemson had just tied the game. She really needed that after a poorly taken PK attempt in the first half that would have put A&M ahead 2-0. She still gets frustrated and stops playing at times, but when she is going full speed, she is really good. Pante also had a nice put away goal to take the lead in the first half in front of the raucous freshmen fans behind the net. A memorable moment for her no doubt. Pounds was hit or miss with several unnecessary fouls, while Bates continues to disappear for long stretches. It's going to be interesting to see what the coaches will do once Russell and Carroll return, because Russell could move to midfield to allow Carroll to team with either Hayes or McDonald, who played in the midfield tonight. McDonald's speed on the outside makes it tempting to keep her there instead of at forward where she is struggling to get shots on goal. Anyway, lots of options here. Finally, Kate Colvin finally started looking like herself again, with some nice minutes and a terrific goal that was purely taken at the top of the box (from a well-placed pass from Olivieri), a curler into the corner over the GK to put the game away in the second half. She had more possession and made some solid passes forward as well.

While Hayes continues to play aggressively and win balls up top, we need her to get more shots on goal. She does go down easily at times, probably trying to get fouls called and free kicks around the box, but sometimes it's better to fight through and take your chances on goal. It did look like she was taken down in the box on the first goal, but Kolb was there to clean it up with a nice cross into Pante for the finish. It's time to start talking about Jai Smith, because she was excellent in her minutes tonight. She is strong and can keep possession, waiting for teammates to move forward into the attack. I'd like to see her get some shots on goal though. It looks like most of our goal scoring will come from the midfield this season.

I really like how the team responded quickly after giving up the tying goal, scoring the winning goal only a minute later. That is a good sign that they will not go down without a fight. I was worried after the tough losses that things could spiral if we had a bad performance tonight, but the big crowd and emotion carried us through. If we continue to improve and get some players back from injury, the win tonight could be important for RPI purposes later this season. The post-game fireworks were nice to see, maybe something that could become permanent after wins?

HiddenAg2,

Really appreciate these writeups. Thanks and keep it up!

Hidden - same thanks from me, as always.

Thanks also to the other contributors for their expertise. For those of us who watch more superficially, it's good instruction.

5 of our 27 players were not in uniform last night: Abel, Carroll, Fetzer, Russell and Williams. With 2 minutes to go Maile Hayes was back playing defense almost on the end line; I wonder how far she ran last night. Clemson goes to Georgia on Thursday. On our last goal I thought Olivieri was going to take a shot but she must have seen that there were fewer Clemson players in front of Colvin.

Man, that game was so refreshing to watch. After suffering through the first half in Fort Worth that was so much more enjoyable. Sill so much room for improvement, but it was like a different team. Honestly the biggest surprise for me was the play of Jai Smith. In her limited time on the field she out-hustled Clemson in so many instances to maintain possession. We need more of that all over the field.

Hope we can use this momentum moving forward and not play down to the competition of the next few weeks.

jessexy said:

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Hidden,

Sample is very good at playing out of the back. I'm sure she got drilled on it every day of the week playing at SOlar under Tsapos and Solca. Alot of a defender getting caught in possession is on the GK making the wrong decision on the outlet pass. It happens more often because the GK isn't comfortable with the ball at their feet and the coach is forcing a system that the GK can't perform in. Solar's Gks were extremely good with their feet. Not sure of the depth chart, but Gunnarson is excellent with her feet. you'll see an immediate difference with her in goal

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Sample is very good dribbling the ball up the field because she is so strong on the ball. I agree the main issue is Caldwell playing every ball as an outlet into a corner, which puts us under immediate pressure. Just don't understand why we don't kick the ball long. Gunnarson is going to be good down the road, but Caldwell is just too good right now to make a change.

I understand the arguments for and against playing out of the back, but after watching this team I don't know how we win without playing out of the back. The percentage of times we lose possession when we launch the ball forward (or even on throw-ins) has to be abnormally high. The risk/reward of playing out of the back has to be better than consistently losing possession given our midfield struggles to win those balls. What am I missing?

Congratulations to Barbara Olivieri on being named SEC Offensive Player of the Week and to Mia Pante on being named SEC Freshman of the Week!

On Chris Henderson AWK twitter he posted this:

inStat Top Rated

1. Barbara Olivieri (A&M)
2. Karlina Sample (A&M)
3. Kate Colvin (A&M)
4. Katie Smith (A&M)
5. Mia Pante (A&M)

A&M get into the win column with a convincing home win over Clemson.

One stat I noticed was "Lost Balls in own half" and we had 33 to Clemson's 11.