Aggies knock off eighth-ranked Auburn in Thursday night stunner, 4-1
A match plagued with injuries and yellow cards led to the Ags’ best-played match of the season.
Facing their highest-ranked opponent on the year, Texas A&M (7-4, 2-1) dominated No. 8 Auburn (9-0-2, 1-0-2), 4-1. With the win, the Aggies snapped Auburn graduate goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska's unbeaten streak.
"They absolutely deserved [the win]," head coach G Guerrieri said. "Their effort was outstanding. All the preparation this week was about knowing that we had two big opportunities this week… Auburn is having just a phenomenal season."
Play opened tight and physically. A yellow card issued to redshirt defender Bella James in the fifth minute was the first of four bookings that included an 81st-minute ejection of James on her second yellow.
Finally finding an opening in the 12th minute, sophomore forward Taylor Jernigan's shot went far left.
This was closely followed by the Tigers' first attempt in the 13th minute as junior defender Erin Houston's shot went out right, stopped by A&M freshman goalkeeper Sydney Fuller.
"They were like a brick wall back there," graduate midfielder Taylor Pounds said. "We all have confidence in them. They're going to hold that line, and we made it difficult for their attackers to get around us."
Momentum picked up for the Ags in the 19th minute as a shot by senior midfielder Mia Pante brought on the second yellow card of the night. Sydney Becerra took the free kick, and her two rebound shots were blocked.
The real turning point came off an unfortunate series in the 24th minute.
An attempt by Pounds ended with a collision into Prohaska. Pounds was immediately subbed out, later appearing in the 40th minute.
Becerra took the penalty kick, putting in the night's first goal. It went straight in with no opposition from the injured Prohaska.
"I'm feeling good," Pounds said. "I think that me going up there and just challenging for the ball and us getting the penalty kick off of that gave us a lot of momentum. Getting that first goal pushed us to keep scoring and keep playing well through our middles and just executing."
Within the minute, Prohaska was subbed out for the remainder of the match. She was replaced by redshirt Taylor Richards, making her season debut.
"Prohaska is an excellent goalkeeper, and we hope that she's OK," Guerrieri said. "She came out and ran into Taylor Pounds; Taylor's got a pretty good knot on her head. It's just two aggressive players going after the ball. That's a tough knock for both of them to have to go through. But (Richards) came in for them and had a good game all the way around."
Richards kept the Auburn goal clean for the remainder of the half, but not without a fight. Attempts by graduate forward Jazmine Wilkinson, graduate midfielder Kate Colvin, sophomore midfielder Grace Ivey and junior Becerra brought Richards her first saves of the season.
The Maroon & White kept their goal clean as well, entering the half up 1-0.
"We had a pretty good first half keeping the ball," Ivey said. "That was one of our main points, was just keeping it with us and moving it. I think that really helped us keep momentum. We were winning battles in the midfield, defense and forward. And I think that's how we kept moving forward."
The second half broke out with close attempts by A&M, with multiple attempts off Pante corner kicks and subsequent rebounds.
With another Pante corner kick, A&M's offense confused the Tigers, leaving the goal wide open and allowing senior defender Macy Matula to extend the lead to 2-0 in the 49th minute.
"I think that first goal gave us confidence," Pounds said. "Whenever we get up in a game, we're all hyped and wanting to keep that momentum going, so once we knew we were up, we knew that we could control this game."
A&M's teamwork continued flourishing. Ivey's 67th-minute goal was brought with the help of both Colvin and Jernigan.
In the 81st minute, a collision with an Auburn player led to James’ ejection as A&M finished the remainder of the match with just 10 players on the pitch.
"For us to be able to come out and put a game like this together against them is really a terrific scoreline for our players," Guerrieri said. "It was a great effort by our players offensively and defensively. Unfortunate, we had to play the last nine minutes or so down a player. And they took advantage of it like a really good team will do. So hats off to our girls for the effort."
The Tigers got on the board with a goal from graduate forward Becky Contreras in the 83rd minute, bringing the match to 3-1.
"Our defense had outstanding games," Guerrieri said. "This is our fourth week in a row with double games, and it's tough… It was great to have (Sydney Fuller) back and playing at her level. A lot of those balls that were served in there, a lot of goalkeepers, especially 18 year old goalkeepers, don't have that poise to be able to make it look so easy. She was pretty effortless in her ability to come and win balls in the air."
The Ags kept their feet on the gas until the end. In the 90th minute, with 57 seconds on the clock, Auburn tipped in a shot by Becerra.
"Instead of taking a step back, we're going to keep progressing with it and going forward," Matula said. "I think that just gives a lot of confidence, showing that all the hard work we've been putting in is paying off."
The Aggies will hope this win will propel them through the Forty Acres.
On Sunday, Guerrieri & Co. travel to Austin to play Texas (8-1-2, 1-1-1) for the first SEC installment of the Lone Star Showdown. The match kicks off at 6 p.m. CT.
