A&M dominates McNeese 8-0 in first home match of 2022 season
On Sunday night, the Texas A&M soccer team defeated McNeese 8-0 at Ellis Field in the first home game of the 2022 season.
The Aggies, blazing with speed and intensity, took the lead in the first half. Quinn Cornog scored the game's first goal in the second minute, while MaKhiya McDonald picked up the assist.
Just 33 seconds later, McDonald quickly followed with a center kick from the box to gain a second point for the Aggies. Kate Colvin and Sydney Becerra assisted McDonald on the goal.
“We set the tone coming out and scoring, and following that, we kept our intensity high,” McDonald said about the hot start for the Aggies.
McNeese struggled to match the Aggies' intensity offensively and ended the first half scoreless with no shot attempts made. However, Briana O’Dell completed three saves to give the Cowgirls a spark defensively throughout the first half.
In the 24th minute of the match, Macy Matula kicked from the left side to the center of the box. Becerra was there to set the ball up to be kicked in by McDonald, adding another goal for the Aggies.
The Aggies continued to dominate, scoring a fourth goal in the opening minutes of the second half was Colvin. The midfielder kicked the goal in for A&M after a quick assist from Mia Pante.
In the 48th minute, Becerra attempted a shot from the bottom right of the goal, but it was saved by O’Dell.
Becerra continued to display grit and determination as she picked up the first goal of her college career in the 55th minute of the match to bring the Aggies to a 6-0 lead.
“It feels good,” Becerra said. “I was really excited to get out there and finally get my first official goal.”
McNeese attempted to make adjustments with substitutions in the 67th minute but could not find an answer against the Aggies.
A&M continued to control the momentum of the game and work together as a squad. In the 72nd minute, Matula set up another goal for the Aggies, and Sawyer Dumond gained the point bringing the lead to 7-0.
The final goal of the game was scored by the Aggies in the 82nd minute by Georgia Leb. The Aggies concluded the game with 25 shot attempts.
“I’m proud of the way that players have trained and prepared themselves for this,” A&M coach G Guerrieri said. “We talked about this being a complete squad victory because everyone on the squad played, and everyone on the squad contributed to this win in a lot of positive ways.
“They get out every day on this field and they work their tails off, and they go after each other in practice. That’s the process that sets up this type of outcome.”
Sunday’s win prepares the Aggies for future competitions and SEC play.
“Coming off of Clemson, you saw that we worked really hard, so to come home and at our home opener be able to score eight goals sets the intensity for the next game because we have two more home games before we get into SEC play so this was really critical for us,” McDonald said.
Next up for the Aggies is a Thursday night matchup against Sam Houston at Ellis Field at 7 p.m.
