we got the lucky bounce on Oliveri's goal

The pendulum has swung

Not scoring with the wind at our back in the first half was the deciding factor. They had 2 shots on goal and they both went in.

Well, it's official. A&M must win the SEC tourney to keep Coach G's streak of NCAA tournament appearances intact. Today was just a tough game to watch and a reminder of why soccer can be a cruel sport. Outside of maybe 20 minutes early in the match, A&M had complete control of the game and most of the scoring chances on goal. We didn't have a lot of sustained possession and a lot of turnovers as usual, but we did keep the Rebels pinned in their own end for long stretches of the match by kicking the ball long and playing wide for crosses. A&M had about 8 true goal scoring opportunities, hitting the crossbar 4 times and the post once and just missed on connections in the box late in the game, while Ole Miss scored on both of their chances on goal, both of them fluky goals that shouldn't have happened. The first a wind aided bounce that the defense whiffed on in the air, dropping to the feet of a Rebel forward for an easy tap in, and the other a shot from distance that caught Caldwell flat footed and sailed over her for the put away goal late in the match (which for Caldwell was a poor effort). In contrast, A&M couldn't have been more unlucky in the first half and could have scored 4 goals. Against LSU all those bounces went our way and into the back of the net, today they didn't and it results in a crushing 2-0 loss and a losing overall record.

There aren't a lot of excuses today except some bad luck because we had a mostly full side and a lineup that should be able to beat Ole Miss at home regardless of record. There were two moments today that summed up why this team has underachieved this season. They both came in the second half. The first was when Hayes had a breakaway with Pante out to her right and served her a weak pass that forced Pante to wait for ball instead of going straight for the 1v1 opportunity. Instead, she made a cut back inside the defender, but allowed the ball to get too far out in front of her, preventing her from even getting a shot on goal as a defender kicked it away. The second sure goal-scoring opportunity came when Ali Russell had a great run through the defense, lost it because it got away from her feet, but then got a break when the ball landed on her feet on a mis hit by a defender, and took a weak left-footed shot wide of the goal. The problem? Kate Colvin was standing all alone to her left begging for the slotted pass in the box that would almost certainly have resulted in an easy finish and tied the game. That goes to awareness and chemistry and it's something that has been missing from this group this season. Fundamentals of trapping, keeping the ball on your feet (not allowing it to bound away on a poor dribble), passing, and accurate shooting are among the worst I've seen in many years at A&M. Combine that with key injuries and you have a 6-7-1 record, something I didn't think I'd ever see from this program. I give Coach G credit for a remarkable run of consistency, but this season has been a disaster.

Now, I think A&M will probably finish with a winning record so at least we have that going for us, but to expect this group to win 4 games in a week at the SEC tourney is asking too much. Let's hope the team can finish out strong against some of the worst teams in the conference. We need something positive going into a long offseason.

I was wrong about the pendulum

The goal is still cursed and there is no cure for the post