Oct. 17, 2014
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Auburn University soccer team played a tough second half against the No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies Friday night in College Station, Texas, but fell behind too much too early as it saw a two-goal first-half deficit go down as a 3-1 loss.
The Tigers allowed three Aggie goals in the match, all in the first half, but could only get one of those back as they were not able to cut into the lead anymore. The lone goal came from sophomore Brooke Ramsier, who capitalized on a penalty kick the Tigers were given in the 40th minute. It was Ramsier's fourth goal of the season, which now leads the team.
"I thought our team battled hard," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We lost the game on set plays. We can't ever do that. It's always one of our priorities when we play. Other than that, I thought our team battled really hard. I thought we had chances, but we just couldn't capitalize."
Texas A&M won the shot category, 20-9, with 10 finding the target. On the other end of those shots, Auburn keeper Alyse Scott made seven saves, three coming in the second half alone. A bright spot for the defense tonight was that the Tigers did not allow an Aggie goal in the run of play.
Auburn struggled to get corners all night, especially in the second half. Only one corner came the Tigers' way in the second period, which was after the team already found itself down two goals.
The match seemed like a back-and-forth affair through the first 15 minutes of play, but A&M struck first in the 17th minute as Annie Kunz sank her fourth goal of the season. After a throw-in by Karlie Mueller bounced off the crossbar, Kunz sent the carom in past Scott, giving the Aggies the 1-0 lead.
Nine minutes later, Texas A&M took a 2-0 lead as Bianca Brinson took a wide shot from the left of the box. Auburn was unable to clear and the ball just squeaked in the lower left corner of the net.
A&M's final goal of the night came in the 34th minute after a free kick was chipped in by Stephanie Malherbe right outside the box on the far side. After pinballing around, Janae Cousineau headed in her third goal of the season from six yards away.
Auburn answered six minutes later with Ramsier's kick and seemed to take some momentum away, but had limited offensive opportunities in the second half as Texas A&M held on for the 3-1 win. Auburn only had three shots in the second half, none able to find the target.
The Tigers limited the Aggies to only three shots on goal in the second half as the defense limited A&M to only offensive chances on set pieces all game.
"I thought our defense played great all game," Hoppa said. "When you play the number eight team in the country and don't give up a goal in the run of play, you have to give a lot of credit to the defense. We were really pleased with their effort tonight."
Auburn will be back on the field Sunday for another key conference match as it will face Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., at 1 p.m. Live stats will be provided online and the match can be seen online on SEC Network+.
For more information on Auburn soccer, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter, @AuburnSoccer or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSoccer.