Aggie soccer team opens season with victory

G. Guerrieri has spent the better part of three weeks telling anyone who will listen how special his freshmen could be this season.

He didn't have to convince anybody Friday night in Texas A&M's soccer opener at Ellis Field. The proof was on the pitch as the first-year players accounted for about half the minutes and all the goals in a 4-2 victory over Fresno State.

Substitute Allie Bailey tallied twice, Shea Groom put the No. 11 Aggies on the board first, and Leigh Edwards made her presence felt nearly immediately scoring the goal that put the Aggies ahead for good.

"This year we hit the jackpot on electrifying attackers," Guerrieri beamed in the days leading up to the opener.

He was all smiles again after the team's first result of the season, finding satisfaction particularly in the players who came off the bench and steadied the game for the Aggies.

"[Midfielder] Katie Perry, when she came in late in the first half, she was the one that kind of changed it for us," said Guerrieri. "Fresno had gotten a good run of play there and we couldn't keep possession of the ball and Katie came in and just calmed the ball down, her and [forward] Allie Bailey and then [midfielder] Kelley Monogue make for three great playmaking attacking players."

The freshmen also accounted for three of the four assists, with Monogue recording two and Groom the third.

The game started with the temperature at 103, and before it could drop a degree the Aggies were on the scoreboard.

After senior Merritt Mathias made Fresno keeper Katie Devault stretch to deflect a shot over the crossbar, Mathias used a slight breeze to help bend a corner onto the head of Groom, who put it away with no trouble from just inside the 6-yard box.

Fresno State squared the game at 1-1 in the 34th minute.

Pernille Ingvaldsen, from the right wing, found Laura Dodd behind central defenders Mary Grace Schmidt and Rachel Lenz and Dodd redirected a volley past Jordan Day, who was left with no chance.

"It was clearly a mistake by us but well played by Fresno," said Guerrieri. "I thought Fresno did a lot of good stuff tonight and I thought for a good 12 minutes of that first half that they had taken control of the pace of the game."

A&M took it back, though, with Edwards finding the upper 90 on the far post with a left-footed shot set up by Monogue five minutes before the halftime whistle.

"I think the way they all stepped in and played, and I mean all of them -- Leigh Edwards made a goal and it came off a series of three or four players keeping possession," Guerrieri said. "[Freshman midfielder] Meghan Streight did good job of settling and winning balls and Merritt was so close on so many occasions."

The Aggies were unlucky not to have three at the half after Nora Skelton's individual effort went for naught when her shot from just inside the top of the penalty box hit the upright and trickled all the way across the goal line and out of play just past the opposite post.

Three freshmen combined to give the Aggies a 3-1 lead. Monogue led Groom into the box and instead of taking a shot with the keeper coming out to break down the angle, Groom slid a ball across to Bailey, who gathered it and left no doubt with a well-struck shot.

"That was a sweet pass," said Bailey, who was unlucky with an earlier attempt that went just wide of the post. "Whenever we get the ball in the final third and we're passing the ball it's going to create good opportunities."

After Fresno closed the gap to 3-2 on arguably the best individual effort of the night by Callie Hancock, Bailey again picked her spot and this time it was the far post from about 15 yards out on the right side. With A&M controlling play at the time the 75th minute goal pretty much iced the game as the temperature gauge dropped to 100 degrees.

"I guess I'm a pretty calm player in front of the goal," said Bailey, who took the two goals like a veteran. "I just like to focus on getting the ball in position for me to score or for a teammate."

On the Bulldogs' second goal, Hancock, who had been a thorn in the Aggies' side much of the night, was sent into the box by Laura Dodd. Her work had just started, though, with Lenz between her and the goal.

The two battled for possession. Hancock won and then had the presence of mind to find the net on the short side between Day and the upright.

In an earlier game, No. 17 Irvine defeated UTSA 2-1.

Natalie Ledezma scored in the ninth minute and then assisted on Jordan Bruce's game-winner in the 74th minute.

Liv Nyhegn tied the game at 1-1 in the 53rd minute.

UTSA plays Fresno State at 10:30 a.m. Sunday and the Aggies host Irvine at 1:30 p.m.