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Evan O´Connell - The Battalion
Aggie defender Annie Burnett loads up for the kick as Boise State junior defender Kristin Hall gives chase in A&M´s 2-0 home win against the Boise State Broncos Friday night.

Aggie soccer drops crucial conference game to Texas, 2-1

By: Matthew Gizbert

Posted: 10/3/05

What started as domination this weekend over Boise State University Friday ended with the despair of defeat to a sub-.500 Texas team Sunday. However Aggie forward Melissa Garey, who continued her offensive tear this season, scored goals in both games, her team and conference leading 10th and 11th goals.

Against Boise State, the Aggies came out strong, dominating the first half with 12 shots and five corner kicks while BSU had two shots and a corner kick. With 9:31 gone in the first half, Garey took a superb cross from midfielder Annie Burnett and left-footed the ball past BSU goalie Kim Parker.

Garey commented that her goal was "one of those goals that me and my brother would always mess around with in the backyard, and it actually went in." Coach G Guerrieri took it even further, calling the goal "world-class."

At halftime, many of the fans thought the score could have been as many as 3 or 4-0, as the Aggies couldn't capitalize on a number of scoring chances. In the 15th minute, Garey found herself all alone in the box with just the keeper to beat but shot wide right. Again in the 26th minute, forward Ashlee Pistorious was the recipient of a great cross from midfielder Carrie Berend, after Berend had beaten a BSU defender on the right wing through her legs.

The domination continued in the second half as the Aggies forced BSU to play almost all their players back on defense inside the box to try to stop the endless waves of A&M players. Seventeen minutes into the second half, new Boise State goalie Michaela Morrison ended up out of position, leaving an open goal for Aggie forward Madison Klovstad, whose shot was blocked by a diving defender. Only a minute later, Klovstad sent a corner kick into the box where midfielder Lauren Pfister directed a perfect header into the top left corner of the net, just out of Morrison's reach. The goal was Pfister's first of the year, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead. By the end of the game, the domination was clear as A&M outshot BSU by a total of 29-3 and had seven corner kicks to Boise State's one.

Boise State coach Steve Lucas expressed his pride for both BSU keepers, saying, "We told (Morrison) at halftime she had to match what (Parker) did, and she did; she did a good job." Lucas also said he couldn't have thought of a better atmosphere than the one he experienced with 3,967 fans in attendance.

After the domination that occurred here at home, the Aggies flew to Austin to take on Texas on Sunday. The Longhorns were below .500, while the Aggies were riding a six-game winning streak after the victory Friday. Obviously, A&M was confident they could enter the lion's den and come out alive, but they were wrong.

The Aggies came out sluggish, letting UT have four corner kicks in the first 10 minutes. Both teams were knotted at 0-0 when the first half ended. As the second half began, Texas was awarded a penalty kick in the 46th minute, which Longhorn Kasey Moore converted for a 1-0 lead. Just four minutes later, the Longhorns struck again when Caitlin Kennedy scored her second goal of the season with a shot deflected by A&M keeper Kati Jo Spisak that careened into the back of the net.

The match continued with both teams getting scoring chances until the 67th minute, when Carrie Berend threw the ball in from the side and leading scorer Melissa Garey took the ball and put it past UT keeper Dianna Pfenninger. A&M midfielder Laura Probst's shot in the 89th minute was the Aggies' last chance, and when Pfenninger got her hands on it, the Longhorns confirmed their upset of A&M.