Guerrieri's 2025 squad makes good first impression in exhibition vs. Rice
Something to build on.
On Tuesday night at Ellis Field, Texas A&M soccer opened its 2025 exhibition late with a 4-0 shutout victory over the visiting Rice Owls.
In a match that featured three 30-minute periods, the Aggies dominated the first 15 minutes, taking advantage of their speed on the wings and using their strong physicality in the back.
Within the first five minutes, NC State transfer Savannah Hutchins made a critical and impressive appearance on the right side, constantly using her speed to beat Rice’s back line. Further, Hutchins gave A&M a few realistic chances with her crosses coming in.
“The team chemistry,” Hutchins said of what drew her to A&M. “Just this whole atmosphere in general is just phenomenal. Obviously, high-level soccer, and I wanted to make a direct impact on this team.”
Additionally, another transfer Mia Scranton made her first appearance on Ellis Field and dominated from the right back position, using her voice to navigate and support her fellow players.
In the 19th minute, the Owls changed their shape significantly, substituting half of their players on the field. This led A&M to fall back towards the end of the first 30 minutes. Slightly making it hard for A&M to keep its shape in the back, the Owls had various opportunities in the Maroon & White’s box.
“We’ve got to be better at restarts,” coach G Guerrieri said. “We’ve got to be better at defending in certain parts of the field. That we've let kind of slip away a little bit, but more than anything, continuing to be better in moving the ball.”
Going into the second period, Maysen Veronda replaced sophomore Sydney Fuller in goal. While Rice came in energized and gained possession and control of the game within the first few minutes, it was A&M midfielder Trinity Buchanan who made an incredible stop in the defensive third and got possession back for A&M.
After a scoreless first period, Veronda saved a deep ball off a Rice free kick as it sailed just wide of the left post. With a quick turnover, Taylor Jernigan scored the first goal of the game with a shot off her right foot that made its way into the bottom left corner of the goal. Leah Pirro assisted on the score.
With A&M up 1-0, the Owls intensified their physicality, leading Isabella Yakel to take a free kick that gave Shea Ryan an opportunity to use her head, but it narrowly missed to the left. Rice had various opportunities to take shots in the second period, but the Owls never did as the Aggie defense quickly ended any threat.
The Aggies led 1-0 until the 47th minute when Bailey Cate doubled the lead, sending a shot right into the bottom center of the goal. From then on, an excited Aggie side dominated for the rest of the night.
Both teams battled for the ball intensely early in the third, but it was Hutchins' perfect header off of Kaylee Noble's cross that pushed A&M to lead 3-0 in the 67th minute.
“An awesome feeling,” Hutchins said. “It was so great to be out there. I get to play with this amazing team and I think we all did phenomenal. It was a surreal experience scoring my first goal for them, so I really couldn’t be happier.”
With time passing by and eight minutes remaining in the match, A&M was awarded a penalty kick, allowing Pirro to score the fourth and final goal of the evening.
“We want it really bad,” Pirro said of this year’s A&M team. “It is showing in the practices, the games. It’s kind of speaking for itself.”
With the 4-0 shutout on Tuesday, the Aggies return to action on Saturday against UTRGV in A&M’s final exhibition match of the season.
“We can build on this now,” Guerrieri said. “We wanted to be a tougher defending team. Giving up no shot on goal was a good start to that.”