Battle for Big 12 title ends in scoreless draw

The Texas A&M Aggies and Oklahoma State Cowgirls pushed each other for 110 minutes for an opportunity to win a Big 12 title before settling for on overtime scoreless draw.

In the end the tie went to the Cowgirls.

OSU came in with a one-point lead over the Aggies in the standings, and with both teams coming away with a point for the draw, the No. 2 Cowgirls (16-0-2 overall and 5-0-2 in the Big 12) control their own destiny going in the final fixture of the regular season.

"I thought about [the draw helping us] but I didn't talk to my team about it," said OSU coach Colin Carmichael. "We wanted to win, and having said that, we didn't change our tactics. We just played the game and we figured whatever result happened, happened. Certainly the tie leaves it in our hands for the regular season."

OSU finishes with Texas Tech at home, while the Aggies go to Texas on Friday.

The Cowgirls would claim the title with a win, while a draw or loss against Tech on Thursday would open the door for the Aggies (12-5-1, 5-1-1).

"A loss would have killed us, so we wanted to push forward, but we didn't want to commit harry carry at the end," said A&M coach G. Guerrieri. "We brought Annie [Kunz] back in and B.B. (Bianca Brinson) did a great job as far as causing a lot of havoc, and we got Merritt [Mathias] into good shooting positions. In the overtime, she got a good look from 12 yards and they blocked the shots."

Both teams played solid defense, limiting the ideal chances to just a couple for either side.

Perhaps the best of those opportunities came in the final 30 seconds of regulation, when Krista Lopez, the Cowgirls' leading scorer with eight goals, pulled the ball back on her left foot and from close range had a shot ticketed for just inside the near post.

A&M keeper Jordan Day played the angle well, blocked the shot and then kept OSU from getting a rebound shot off.

"I was so nervous," said Day, a freshman with five shutouts. "I saw her take a touch and I just went for it. Good thing I got a hand on it."

Day, who had a eight saves, also got a hand on the Cowgirls' best effort in the first half. The speedy Megan Marchesano got free deep in the box, pulled the ball back to herself to get an angle, and then had her shot stuffed by Day, who shadowed her well.

"She held everything that came her way," Carmichael said. "I thought Krista would bury it, but having said that, their keeper was very, very solid today."

A&M found the net early in the game on a Megan Majewski header, but the play had been whistled dead for a foul while the ball was on its way into the box.

"They had two really good chances that Jordan made great saves on and we had a goal that I'm not sure why it was called back, but it was," said Guerrieri. "The chances in this game, when you get them, you need to finish them and both teams are quality national powers and weren't able to finish, mostly because of what the other team was doing."

Merritt Mathias had the Aggies' best opportunity in the 71st minute. Brinson did most of the work down the left side, beating her defender and then sending the ball back toward the top of the box, where Mathias charged on to it before driving a shot past Adrianna Franch that skimmed off the top of the crossbar.

In the overtime, neither Day nor Franch, who has seven shutouts, were truly tested, although the ball got deep in the final third of the pitch much of the time, with each keeper having to make one save.

"In this case the defense got tired and they stopped stepping up and the game stretched," Guerrieri said. "Again, I thought the fight was there for both teams. Both have the potential to go far in the NCAA Tournament."

The stats were relatively close -- 20 to 19 shots for OSU and 8 to 5 saves for A&M -- in every category but corner kicks. The Cowgirls took 10 corner kicks to A&M's one, with the Aggies' only one not coming until the 78th minute.

The fouls were also close with OSU having one more with 19. The Aggies' Rachel Lenz and Beth West both had yellow cards.

"It was on TV (ESPNU) and I hope the people saw a good advert [for soccer]," Carmichael said. "Those kids on a Sunday afternoon after playing Friday, the effort both teams put out was amazing, and there was some good soccer played."