Arkansas hands No. 2 Texas A&M their first loss of the season 3-2

The No. 2 Texas A&M soccer team that started the season 10-0 hit a bump in the road on Thursday night, falling to Arkansas 3-2 in Fayetteville.

After going down 3-1 in the 75th minute, the Aggies were able to rally back and come within striking distance as Asdis Hallsdorsdottir netted a long direct free kick goal in the 84th minute. However, it was too little too late and the Aggies suffered their first loss of the season.

“It’s a tough result for us. It’s always tough playing an SEC road match,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “It’s especially tough here because they play so differently than everyone else.”

The Aggie defense made some costly uncharacteristic defensive mistakes in the match which created chances for the Razorbacks. The first of those mistakes came in the 14th minute as Razorback forward Stefani Doyle juked an Aggie defender then slotted the ball to an unmarked Tori Cannata who shot the ball into the far side-netting, out of the reach of A&M goalkeeper Cosette Morche.

Jackie Ysaquirre, TexAgs

Kendall Ritchie scored one of two goals for the Aggies in the loss.

A&M responded with a goal of their own under two minutes later, as Kendall Ritchie launched a direct freekick over the Arkansas goalkeeper’s head and into the back of the net from about 25 yards out.

The Razorbacks were the aggressor for the duration of the first half and outshot the Aggies six to four in the first half. The match was deadlocked 1-1 at the intermission.

The Aggies had the first real chance of the second half as midfielder Addie McCain won a sliding challenge with an Arkansas center back. McCain then crossed the ball across the six-yard box on to the foot of a wide-open midfielder Jimena Lopez who sailed the ball over the goal.

Arkansas utilized a flip throw-in to get the ball in the Aggies’ 18-yard box in the 62nd minute. The Razorbacks were then able to capitalize on the Maroon and White’s inability to clear the ball outside and Taylor Malham connected with a waiting Cannata who ripped a strike into the back of the net from nine yards out.

The match was very chippy, and the two teams combined for 23 fouls - but many more could have been called. The Razorbacks were able to use their physical play to get the Aggies off their game.

“It was a really physical game that didn’t fall our way,” Guerrieri said. "We had a couple wide open looks at goal that we didn’t finish and Arkansas did a great job of finishing three chances."

Stefani Doyle assisted on what would be the game-clinching goal in the 75th minute by beating the Aggie defense on the left flank and passing to a wide-open Bryana Hunter who easily scored from just outside the six-yard box.

The Aggies will now look to get back on track as they host Georgia at Ellis Field. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 P.M. on Sunday. The match will be broadcasted on SEC Network+.