Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Texas A&M
Cowgirls Fall To Texas A&M, 1-0
October 25, 2010 | Cowgirl Soccer
Oct. 24, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M converted a penalty kick in the 20th minute to lift the No. 6 Aggies to a 1-0 win over No. 5 Oklahoma State Sunday at Aggie Soccer Stadium.
The loss was the second straight for the Cowgirls, who fell to 14-3-1 overall and 7-2-0 in Big 12 Conference play.
The win assured TAMU (15-3-0, 8-1-0) of at least a share of the Big 12 regular season championship. However, OSU could still claim a share of the title if the Cowgirls defeat Oklahoma and the Aggies lose at Texas in Friday's regular-season finales.
"I'm disappointed in the loss but certainly not disappointed in our team's effort," said OSU head coach Colin Carmichael. "Now we'll got into the Bedlam game against the best OU team I can remember, so it's going to be a really challenging game for us in Norman. But we'll go in there and hopefully get a good result, and A&M has to go to Texas and we found out how tough that can be.
"I certainly don't think it's over, but all we can do now is take care of our business. Either way, we go to San Antonio (Big 12 Championship) as a No. 2 seed, which is nothing to be ashamed of."
In Sunday's match, TAMU recorded the lone score at the 19:23 mark. After OSU's Melinda Mercado was called for a foul in the box against Whitney Hooper, the Aggies' Rachel Shipley stepped up and drilled a low penalty kick past OSU goalie AD Franch.
"Hooper is very fast and got goal-side of (Mercado). I don't think Minnie meant to clip her, but she got a piece of her and they converted the penalty," Carmichael said. "That made it an uphill battle for us. Up to that point, we'd done really well containing them."
The Aggies nearly added to their lead less than a minute later, but Franch made a diving save on a shot by Hooper to keep the score at 1-0.
OSU had a great scoring opportunity with just over 17 minutes remaining in the opening half when Kyndall Treadwell sent a cross toward Krista Lopez deep in the box. But TAMU goalie Kelly Dyer was able to corral the ball and end the threat.
The Cowgirls had another near miss in the 34th minute. After TAMU was whistled for a handball just outside the box, Colleen Dougherty took the free kick, and her shot sailed just wide.
TAMU owned an 8-6 advantage in shots at intermission, with both teams recording two shots on goal.
Early in the second half, OSU created another prime chance when Megan Marchesano got a step on her defender and dribbled into the box. However, the defender was able to make a sliding play to disrupt Marchesano's shot, resulting in a save by Dyer to keep the Cowgirls off the scoreboard.
"At times in the second half, there was one-way traffic," Carmichael said. "We were putting a little bit of pressure on them. We maybe didn't create as many chances as we wanted, but they're a tough team to break down."
The Aggies finished with a 14-10 advantage in shots as Dyer recorded three saves for her sixth shutout of the season. Franch also had three saves for OSU.
OSU closes out the regular season Friday against Oklahoma at 7 p.m. in Norman.
