Soccer: A&M downs Mizzou in OT, secures #2 seed in SEC Tourney

Game Recap

College Station - Going into the last regular season match of the 2012 season, the 13th ranked Texas A&M soccer team looked to secure the second seed in next week's SEC Tournament against longtime rival Missouri.

While a tie was all that was needed to lock up their spot, the Aggies were able to defeat the Tigers on Thursday night by a score of 2-1 in overtime. With the victory, A&M moves to 16-3-1 on the year and 10-2-1 in the SEC, while Missouri falls to 13-6-0 overall and 8-5-0 in conference play.

The first half of play came to a climax in the 28th minute when Missouri forward Alyssa Diggs beat the Aggies' back line to earn herself a one-on-one opportunity against A&M netminder Jordan Day. Day was able to come out on the play just enough to force Diggs to her left and towards the left goalpost which made Diggs' shot somewhat awkward. Diggs' fired in the direction of the goal, but Day was able to deflect the ball away and eventually scoop it up for the A&M clear.

After halftime, things started to heat up offensively for both teams as the teams combined for a total of 15 shots, including the two -one for each team- that found the back of the net.

In the 69th minute of play, midfielder Beth West played a ball to her right in front of a sprinting Annie Kunz. Kunz fielded the perfect pass and fired a roller across the goal and past the outstretched body of Missouri goalie McKenzie Sauerwein to give A&M a 1-0 lead. The goal was Kunz's seventh of the season, while the assist was the first on the year for West.

"Their goalie tended to play near post a lot," said Kunz. "We worked on going to the far post, so that's where I put it."

However, Missouri wouldn't go down without a fight.

During the 82nd minute, Tigers' forward Haley Krentz played a ball across the A&M penalty box that took an awkward bounce off an Aggie defender and landed at the waiting feet of midfielder Kaysie Clark. With Day out of position due to the unfortunate bounce off the A&M defender, Clark was able to put the ball away with ease and knot the game up at 1-1.

Regulation would end eight minutes later, and once again, A&M would find themselves in a sudden death situation with SEC Tournament implications on the line.

Once in overtime, A&M was able to capitalize when senior Chelsea Jones was able to move the ball through Missouri territory. Jones passed the ball off to Shea Groom who continued the downfield strike until she crossed the ball back to Jones who was wide open at the top of the penalty box. Jones unleashed a laser of a shot and was able to squeak the ball past Sauerwein for the game winning goal.

"I thought the winning goal was as good of a goal we've scored all season," said A&M Head Coach G Guerrieri. "That goal had probably eight passes and was setup nicely by Shea Groom. It was a really good exclamation point on our first regular season in the SEC."

The goal marked the first of Jones' senior campaign, as well as the Groom's first assist of the season.

Next up, the Aggies travel to Orange Beach, Alabama for their first SEC Tournament. Being the two-seed, A&M has earned a valuable bye in the first round of play, and will play the winner of the eight-nine matchup on Wednesday at noon.

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Post-game notes

* A&M was outshot by Missouri 16-14 on the evening.

* The Aggies are now 14-5-1 all time against the Tigers.

* A&M goalie Jordan Day has given up only seven goals during the 13 conference games this season.

* The attendance on record of 3,562 included a large majority of the A&M Corps of Cadets who performed a full march-in prior to the match.