Match #11: No. 5 Tennessee 1, Texas A&M 0
Records: Texas A&M (3-5-3, 0-4-0), Tennessee (9-1-1, 3-1-0)
Box Score
Friday was despairing.
On Friday night in Knoxville, Texas A&M suffered its fifth consecutive loss in a 1-0 defeat to No. 5 Tennessee.
For the Aggies, they are now 0-4 in conference play and have yet to score a goal in an SEC match.
In the first half, A&M was in a 4-2-3-1, while the Lady Vols were in a 4-3-3. With different shapes on display, the Aggies' approach was to set heavier attention to the defense rather than the attack, which deployed an ultra-aggressive defense.
In opposition, Tennessee deployed a slow-tempo pace of play, both in the attack and defense, in front of its home audience.
The game started slow as there was no action from either side for a steady 20 minutes.
In the 21st minute, A&M forward Kaylee Noble took an attempt at the bottom left of the net, only to be saved by Cayden Norris.
Eleven minutes later, Holly Storer tested Norris, only to once again be stonewalled.
“I am proud of them for the effort that they put in,” Texas A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “It’s the second game in a row where we outplay, outshoot and have a lot more chances than the top-10 team in a week.”
The first and only card of the game was issued to A&M forward Trinity Buchanan for a notable tackle on Mac Midgley in the 33rd minute.
At halftime, the Maroon & White had two shots, with both of them being on goal, while Tennessee had three shots, though none of them needed a save from Maysen Veronda.
The second half for the Ags had a sense of urgency on both sides of the ball.
Conversely, the mentality switched for Tennessee, as the Lady Vols employed a faster tempo to the attack.
Five minutes into the second half, the game stopped for a potential handball penalty against defender Riley Crooks. After a video review, any Tennessee hopes of having a penalty kick were denied due to Crooks’ hand movement being deemed unintentional.
In the 68th minute, Alivia Stott tried to put her name on an attempt that counted for a Veronda save.
Not even a minute after being subbed on the field, Tennessee’s Reese Mattern put a smile on the home crowd’s face from her bottom of the net shot going past Veronda in the 71st minute.
Hoping to immediately equalize the game, Storer rang a shot off the crossbar as A&M never found an answer to Tennessee’s 1-0 advantage.
After Storer’s loud attempt, there were another five shots that followed, but each was doomed to be a footnote in the box score.
With a disheartening result, A&M still has more work to be done.
“They finish their one chance and we don’t finish any of ours,” Guerrieri said. “We have to keep working hard and clean up things in our attack because we got the Longhorns coming to town on Thursday.”
The Maroon & White return to Ellis Field for the Lone Star Showdown against the Texas Longhorns next week. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. CT.
