Texas Tech Athletics
Texas A&M
Red Raiders Take No. 11 Aggies to the Wire
October 24, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 24, 2008
LUBBOCK, Texas - Despite a 12-1 second-half shot advantage, the Texas Tech soccer team fell to No. 11 Texas A&M, 1-0, Friday night in front of 651 fans at the John Walker Soccer Complex.
After falling behind midway through the first half, the Red Raiders attempted five shots within the final 10 minutes, including a header by Casey McCall with less than 20 seconds remaining. Tech was unable to get by Aggie goalkeeper Kelly Dyer, however, as the sophomore collected saves in three out of the five shots to preserve the win for A&M.
"This was one of our best performances of the year," Tech head coach Tom Stone said. "It was a tremendous effort by the team tonight, and we faced down the No.11-ranked team in the nation and clearly were in the game until the very end."
Texas A&M connected on the match's lone goal in the 32nd minute as Brianne Young headed a Rachel Shipley corner kick past Tech goalkeeper Tina Rincon for her fifth goal of the season.
Tech would look to counter with 13 minutes left, sending Brittney Harrison from the backline to the front, while also moving McCall from her normal defender position to the midfield.
The Red Raiders came close to tying the match in the 88th minute as McCall took the rebound from a Taylor Lytle cross, but fired into the arms of a waiting Dyer.
Tech outshot A&M 14-10 overall and also held a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks. Rincon finished with four saves in goal, maybe none bigger than her back-to-back diving saves in the 10th minute.
"Outshooting them 12-1 in the second half tells the story on how well we played," Stone added. "When we pushed Brittney and Casey up, I felt we created some positive opportunities, but unfortunately none of them went our way. I was really proud of how our team played tonight."
With the loss, Tech drops to 8-8-1 overall and finishes with a 3-7-0 record in Big 12 play, while Texas A&M improves to 13-3-1 overall and 6-2-1 in conference.
The Red Raiders now turn to scoreboard watching as their five point lead for eighth place and a berth into the Big 12 Championship is still alive after both Baylor and Oklahoma also lost Friday night. Tech has never qualified for the Big 12 Championship in consecutive seasons in school history.
Tech closes out the regular season Sunday against the TCU Horned Frogs on Senior Day. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. from the John Walker Soccer Complex.
