Hayes' brace fuels second-half rally as Texas A&M defeats Auburn, 3-1

On the precipice of their fourth tie of the season, Maile Hayes’ late-game heroics secured what might have once seemed like an improbable victory.

Behind her first career brace, Texas A&M continued its late push toward the postseason by grinding out a 3-1 comeback win over Auburn at Ellis Field.

Hayes, the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week, now leads the squad in goals after surpassing MaKhiya McDonald’s mark with her sixth of the year. She has now scored four times in the last eight days and is the second Aggie to record a brace in 2022 after McDonald accomplished the same feat against McNeese.

“I think all of us just have really high confidence coming off that Ole Miss win,” Hayes said postgame. “We have that belief within ourselves and each other that we can win and make great things happen even when we’re down or there’s not much time left.

“The confidence for myself, getting my goals in and assists lately, is as high as it will ever be, and I really hope to continue that.”

Generating offensive opportunities figured to be a challenge for the Aggies as the Tigers entered Friday having limited opponents to one goal or less in 15 of their 16 matches this season. Posting only one shot-on-goal, A&M finished the first half largely restrained to their defensive third by a high press.

Auburn forward Maddie Simpson weaved her way through the A&M defense when Hailey Whitaker lobbed a pass to her from midfield. Just outside the 6-yard box, Simpson flicked the ball into the left side of the net to stake a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute.

Following a change to its offensive scheme, the Aggies immediately atoned for their sluggish start out of halftime. In the 48th minute, Kate Colvin raced down the wing and masterfully slotted a pass to Carissa Boeckmann inside the penalty box. Tiger goalie Maddie Prohaska slipped as she stepped forward to cover Boeckmann, which then freed the net for Hayes to knot the score, 1-1.

“We talked about at halftime that our possession was good, but it wasn’t effective,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “We were pretty efficient the way we moved the ball, but we didn’t go forward. We brought on another attacking player on the frontline to match up with their two center backs, and that all of a sudden allowed our outside people to come alive a bit.”

A&M continued to shift offensive momentum in their favor with four chance opportunities before the 70th minute — two by Hayes. Overall, the team outshot the Tigers 9-3 in the second half.

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Five Aggies were credited with assists with Kate Colvin leading the team with two. 

With just over two minutes remaining, Colvin served her second assist of the night to Hayes as she penetrated through the middle and fired between two defenders near the penalty box to break the deadlock. As the final buzzer approached, Boeckmann put the exclamation point on the win with a goal to wrap up a wild last sequence of events.

“That was a great soccer game. You saw two teams that went out and played incredibly hard.” Guerrieri said. “I couldn’t be prouder of this group and proud of my staff for the changes that were made.”

Currently last in the SEC West, Hayes hopes the win can provide a boost heading into the regular season’s final three games to help secure a spot in the 10-team conference tournament A&M missed in 2021.

“I think it all started last year, especially because our season didn’t go as planned,” Hayes said. “Obviously, this year started off really rough, and I think we all just have that mentality of we’re not letting that happen again no matter what. We’re just going to keep that mental toughness.”

The Aggies (8-5-3, 2-4-1) travel to Columbia next Thursday to face South Carolina. Kick-off is set for 6 p.m. CT.