Aggies and Crimson Tide Play to 1-1 Draw

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - The Texas A&M Aggies played the Alabama Crimson Tide to a 1-1 draw in an evenly contested match Friday evening on Senior Night at Ellis Field.

The Aggies and Crimson Tide exchanged the same number of shots (15-15) with Alabama owning a 7-5 edge in shots-on-goal and A&M boasting a 6-4 margin in corner kicks, but both teams only capitalized on one occasion for their lone goals. Eight different A&M players attempted a shot in the match with Kate Colvin and Taylor Pounds leading the Aggies with three. During the opening half, the Aggies had multiple scoring opportunities, including a close call from Pounds in the 28th minute that just barely passed the right post.

The Aggies struggled to get shots on goal early in the match while the Crimson Tide had three in the first half, all resulting in saves by junior Kenna Caldwell. The only shot on goal for the Aggies in the opening act came in the 26th minute by senior Macie Kolb. Both teams had several scoring opportunities, but their backlines and goalkeepers kept the match scoreless as they headed to the locker room.

A&M returned to the match hungry for a goal and were the first team on the board in the 46th minute with a goal from sophomore Barbara Olivieri off assists from freshman Mia Pante and Maile Hayes. The Crimson Tide answered back with a header in the 56th minute from Kate Henderson off an assist from Felicia Knox. Despite decent opportunities from both teams, the score remained level at 1-1 and the match headed into overtime for the third time this season.

During the first overtime, the Aggies held the Crimson Tide to only one shot on goal that was saved by Caldwell. Neither team found the back of the net resulting in a second overtime. The second period of overtime had the same results as before and the Maroon & White finished with their second tie of the 2021 campaign.

Each squad stuck with the same goalkeeper for the totality of the match, as Alabama trotted out McKinley Crone while the Aggies placed Caldwell in goal. Caldwell had a strong outing, facing seven shots on goal and coming away with six saves.

The Aggies’ record moves to 6-7-2 with a 2-4-1 ledger against Southeastern Conference opponents. Alabama moves to 8-7-1 with a 3-3-1 conference record. The Aggies maintain a 6-2-2 record in the all-time series with Alabama.

SCORING SUMMARY46′ – Maile Hayes sends the ball outside to Mia Pante who sees open space in front of Olivieri who then capitalizes off the pass, sending it to the back of the net from outside the box. TAMU 1, BAMA 0 56′ – Knox sends a free kick into the box where Henderson make the most of it and heads the ball into the goal. TAMU 1, BAMA 1

UP NEXTThe Maroon & White travel to Starkville next Thursday, as Mississippi State Bulldogs host the Texas A&M Aggies in a 6 p.m. kickoff on MSU Soccer Field.

TEXAS A&M QUOTESHead Coach G Guerrieri

On not maintaining the momentum from the early second half goal…

“Unfortunately, when you have a whole front line of freshman and sophomores, those are things where they are learning on the fly and we’ve got to be able to get those into the game and make it a part of their vocabulary that they understand the importance of every moment in the 90 minutes. And tonight, an added 20.”

Sophomore midfielder Barbara Olivieri

On the high stakes of the second overtime...

“It was definitely really stressful. Obviously, we were intense with trying to get it up. I feel like we had a few chances.”