Nebraska Falls at Texas A&M

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>College Station, Texas ? Despite an outstanding defensive effort from the Huskers, the Nebraska soccer team suffered a 2-0 shutout loss to the eighth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies in College Station on Friday night.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

With the loss, Nebraska falls to 8-4-3 on the season and 3-3-1 in the Big 12, while the Aggies improve to 11-3-1 (8-0-0 Big 12), extending their winning streak to eight games.

 

Defensively, Nebraska was led by an exceptional performance from sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Klages, who made 10 saves on the evening to keep the Huskers in a deadlock with one of the top teams in the country through 63 minutes of play. 

 

However, the A&M defense played a smart game as well, holding Nebraska to season lows in both shots (4) and corner kicks (1), while the Aggie offense tallied 10 shots on goal on 21 shots.

 

A&M notched both of its goals on the evening in the second half.  The first developed off a corner kick for a diving header by Laura Grace Robinson at 54:40, followed by another goal at 72:36 from Melissa Garey.

 

The Huskers came out of the first half in a scoreless tie due in large part to the excellent work of Klages and the Nebraska defense.  Klages made six saves in the first period alone, a number that could have been much higher had it not been for NU’s four-player defensive front that turned away several dangerous A&M scoring attacks.

 

The Aggies pushed into Husker territory early as Paige Carmichael dribbled into free space at the top of the Nebraska box at four minutes and fired a hard shot toward the left side of the net, but was denied with a diving save by Klages.

 

Klages remained ferocious in goal for the rest of the half, getting dirty and denying shots over and over again, including a pair of back-to-back Aggie opportunities in the waning minutes of the period.  The first attempt featured A&M’s Kat Krambeer on a cross in front of the net that that Klages not only rejected but simultaneously pushed out to NU’s Kellie Jensen for a Husker counterattack.

 

But the Aggies weren’t discouraged for long as seconds later A&M bolted back down the field on a breakaway down the left sideline for a one-on-one opportunity against Klages, but again the NU goalkeeper stayed strong, making a difficult close-range save to keep the contest tied.

 

In addition to Klages’ heroics, the Nebraska defense sent a message early and often, by discouraging several solid Aggie scoring drives.  Freshman Anna Caniglia held an especially hard line down the right side to hold A&M’s top scorer, Suzette Devloo, without a single shot on the period.

 

Although the Huskers were credited with just one shot in the first half, they did mount a number of scoring chances.  Nebraska’s one shot on goal came from sophomore Aysha Jamani in the middle of the half, as she sped by four A&M defenders along the endline to find open space at point blank range in front of the goal.  In her rush to get the shot off however, Jamani didn’t get her foot squarely on the ball and the shot could not find the back of the net.

 

Jamani set up another chance shortly after as she pushed the ball up field and found sophomore Selenia Iacchelli on the right side.  Iacchelli tried to cross the ball back to Jamani on the far post run, but put the ball too far ahead and Texas A&M let it roll out of bounds.

 

Senior Brittany Timko, the Big 12 leader in goals and points on the season, was largely contained by the Aggies in the first half.  A&M put a lot of physical pressure on NU’s leading scorer, often double-teaming Timko to neutralize her ability to break into free space.  In fact, Timko was held to just one shot on the game.

 

Additionally, A&M took away Nebraska’s potent set plays with the Huskers failing to earn a corner in the entire first half.  In fact, it wasn’t until more than 10 minutes into the second period that Timko got to bend her first corner of the game.

 

The NU defense continued its stellar play in the second half, including an outstanding stop by senior Tanya Dennis three minutes in as she got in front of a hard Aggie shot that would otherwise have found an open net.

 

Klages remained perfect through nearly 63 minutes of play, but the constant Aggie onslaught eventually got the best of the 5-11 keeper. 

 

A&M brought the ball down the right side of the field, blowing by the NU defense and running into Klages who made the initial save.  However Klages was unable to gather the ball, which bounced back out into the box.  Kramber gathered the rebound, but was again rejected by Klages who deflected the ball out of bounds for an Aggie corner kick, which was netted for the first goal of the game on a diving header by Robinson at 54:40.

 

Down 1-0, Nebraska continued to try and transition the ball into the Aggie half of play, but had difficulty gaining control in the neutral field.  Nebraska’s best chance of the half came with 19 minutes remaining as Timko earned a free kick 25 yards out.  The shot deflected off the Aggie wall and headed toward the far post to find sophomore Ali Lokanc on the run, who was unable to finish.

 

A&M tallied its second goal of the night minutes later at 72:36 with a goal from Garey on a pass from Krambeer.

 

The Huskers now hurry back to Lincoln for their second game of the weekend as they play host to Texas starting at 1 p.m. this Sunday at the Nebraska Soccer Field.  Nebraska will host a special Senior Day ceremony recognizing Timko as its lone departing senior prior to kickoff.