Finally.
In front of 2,612 at Ellis Field on Thursday night, Texas A&M found a second-half breakthrough that clinched a 1-0 victory over archrival Texas and mercifully, simultaneously ended a 460-minute scoreless drought and snapped a six-match winless streak.
"Just the fight. The fight all the way around," A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. "We talked about Aggies don't give up, and that was exactly what it took tonight because, as close as we came in the second minute, as close as we came other times, it was going to take something special, and Trinity Buchanan is special."
Immediately after Lucy Landherr had to be helped off the pitch with an apparent injury resulting from a hard foul by Texas' Audrey Bryant, Bella Yakel stood over the ball in the 68th minute.
From about 40 yards away, Yakel's free kick was flicked off Kaylee Noble's back heel and directly to Buchanan.
With a brilliant display of skill, Buchanan's right-footed one-time shot beat Texas goalkeeper Kendell Williams for A&M's first goal of SEC play.
"It was just so relieving," the goal-scorer said. "I think we wanted it so bad, and to have it on this rivalry game, it's just that much more worth it. It was awesome."
Buchanan's goal might have seemed inevitable given that A&M controlled the match for much of the night.
The Aggies outshot the Longhorns 14-8 in total, but the goal didn't come until their 12th shot of the night.
Further, the Maroon & White hadn't scored since Sept. 7 in a 2-1 loss at then-No. 4 TCU and had suffered through three consecutive 1-0 defeats prior to Thursday's triumph.
"It's a testament to if you don't give up, good things are going to happen," Guerrieri said just before a surprise postgame water bottle shower. "You just got to keep fighting. You got to keep chugging away, and tonight, we were the little engine that could."
In truth, if not for Williams' six saves, the Aggies would've won in runaway fashion.
But that's how 2025 has gone for Guerrieri & Co.
So many of A&M's chances came from either free kicks or wishful attempts from outside the 30-yard box.
Of course, some shots are better than others as A&M really ramped up the pressure in the second half.
At the break, the Aggies outshot Texas 5-1 as Williams made four stops to keep it 0-0 after 45 minutes.
A Buchanan header off a Landherr cross bounced wide of the frame in the 55th. Moments later, Holly Storer's one-time try beat Williams but again missed the net.
Not even a lengthy VAR check for a possible Texas handball went the way of the Aggies.
In a way, Thursday felt like a microcosm of A&M's season until the cathartic 68th minute.
"I think our team has been through a lot of adversity," Buchanan said. "We didn't let the shots not going in deter us from getting more shots on goal."
Instead, the Aggie offense finally rewarded their typical stout defense.
Behind a strong Aggie backline, Maysen Veronda posted a clean sheet, though she was rarely tested.
Texas did not have a shot attempt until the 27th minute, and the A&M goalkeeper didn't need to make a save until the 87th.
"We've been wanting a shutout this whole entire SEC season, and we finally got it," defender Hattie Patterson said. "It's awesome. We're hyped about it."
At the midway point of the conference slate, the Aggies are finally in the win column. Additionally, they've climbed out of the SEC cellar.
Sure, more victorious results must follow for A&M to somehow claw its way back into postseason consideration, but at least for the moment, Guerrieri's team has some semblance of momentum.
"We'll celebrate it for the rest of tonight," Guerrieri said. "It stops some bleeding, that's for sure. It's something we can definitely build upon."
