Bounce back: Soccer rebounds with victory over Abilene Christian

A Friday trip to Tallahassee didn't go as Aggie soccer would have liked, but on Sunday night at Ellis Field, they were focused on righting the ship.

In a 4-1 annihilation of Abilene Christian, the Aggies used a second half hat trick from Haley Pounds to distance themselves and get back to their usual winnings ways.

In the early goings Sunday night, A&M controlled possession and put Abilene Christian’s Sydney Newton to work in the opposing goal. She was up to the task in the opening minutes as Brittany Crabtree’s shot towards the right side of the net was saved. Getting shots on goal would be a recurring trend for the Aggies throughout this one.

But, before A&M could capitalize, the Wildcats struck first.

Chantal Kinsey, an ACU defender, weaved her way through the Aggie defense before Taylor Saucier came out to meet her. When Saucier’s slide took out her legs, a penalty kick was awarded. The Aggie keeper guessed correctly, but the shot was too high for her dive and ACU was on the board.

The maroon and white weren't down long, however, as Mikaela Paulson struck back almost instantly.

As she has been known to do lately, the sophomore used some quick footwork to bypass a defender, then got a shot off from the right side of the inner box. It was pure from the time it left her foot and in the 18th minute, things were tied at one a side.

For the rest of the half, A&M got good shots, but time and time again, Newton was there to knock them away. Then, the second period started and things went downhill in a hurry for Abilene Christian.

“Coming out (in the second half) we talked about raising our speed of play.” Said head coach G. Guerrieri. “It was about us. With that said, their goalkeeper was tremendous with 16 saves. If not for her, it could have been a lot worse early.”

While A&M struggled to find the back of the net early, things came more easily in the closing half.

In the 66th minute, Karlie Mueller lofted a shot in from nearly 30 yards. The ball came down just left of the goal, and after a quick touch from Kate Hajdu, Haley Pounds rocketed her first goal into the right side of the net.

She added two more within twelve minutes, both on penalty kicks resulting from fouls on Harvey.

With the hat trick in hand, and a 4-1 lead, the Aggies cruised to victory in the final 20 minutes. Afterwards, Pounds talked about her three goal effort.

“I’d practiced penalties a lot growing up, so I wasn't too nervous. I just went the direction I was comfortable with and was able to put two in the back.”

With their 5th win of the season, A&M is on the brink of giving coach Guerrieri his 400th career victory. To do that, A&M will have to defeat Florida on Thursday night. That’s something Haley Pounds badly wants to accomplish.

“Last year, we lost to Florida in the regular season. So, this year, we want to kill them. They play a lot like us, they’re really dangerous on the attack and the transition. It should be a great match.”