Texas A&M's Bri Young and Kim Castleberry have had a tough go of it lately, both being relegated to coming off the bench after being counted on in the early going this soccer season.
The two came through on Friday, though, each scoring once to lead the Aggies to an easy 4-0 victory over the Texas Longhorns at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.
With the win, the Aggies (12-5-2 overall) finished second in the Big 12 at 6-2-2 in league play and will face Baylor at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the conference tournament in San Antonio. Texas (8-8-3, 4-3-3) will be the No. 6 seed and face Colorado.
"It was really great to see Kim score," A&M coach G. Guerrieri said. "She's been working hard, she's been feeling better, playing better the last three weeks, and we talked before the game that we were due and she was due too. She's a goal-scorer and it's one of those things where we hope once the dam gets broken that more can follow."
Castleberry notched her second goal of the season in the 34th minute after Whitney Hooper dribbled the ball deep to the end line and then pulled it back toward Castleberry, who was just outside the six-yard box.
Castleberry's initial shot was blocked by a defender, but the freshman jumped on the deflection and wasted no time in sending it past UT goalkeeper Alexa Gaul.
A&M controlled most of the play in the first half and was rewarded in the opening three minutes of the second half with Young's fifth goal, her first since the Kansas game Oct. 2.
Young, who has moved up from the back line to the marking midfielder position, found space outside the Texas box and with her off foot banged home a shot from 25 yards out as the defender was retreating.
The right-footed Young then assisted on the third goal, with an assist from a Longhorn defender who fanned on Young's pass to Nora Skelton.
Skelton had plenty of time to find the far-side netting from 12 yards out in the 69th minute.
"For Bri to score as well and to get Nora scoring against her hometown team, it was a pretty complete performance by our attacking side," Guerrieri said. "Our defense played well too, so we feel pretty good about the way we are going into the tournament."
Rachel Shipley closed the deal with a well-struck penalty shot to make it 4-0 in the 82nd minute after Erica Campanelli was called for a hand ball on an Aggie cross.
"The deal is they are good defending team," Guerrieri said. "Texas doesn't give up many goals, but our attacking five have been really clicking lately. We had a really good week of practice and I think the players discovered what makes them dangerous compared to what doesn't make them dangerous, and they looked dangerous all night tonight."
Castleberry had an opportunity for a second goal minutes after the first when she was sent free by a Chelsea Jones pass. Gaul did well to read the play and came off her line to close the gap and deflect Castleberry's shot.
It was senior night Friday, and Cydne Currie nearly celebrated with a goal but was turned away once by Gaul and sent another shot just over the crossbar.
The Aggies' other senior, Emily Peterson, played well in the middle of the defense, keeping the Longhorns from having any real scoring opportunities.
Kelly Dyer and Kristin Arnold only had to make one save each.
"A lot of it is our goalkeepers have done a good job as far as keeping them organized, but Emily Peterson and Mary Grace Schmidt in the middle are not just great players, they are great communicators and leaders with a calming presence to our back line," Guerrieri said.
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NOTES -- Guerrieri said he asked Peterson to take the penalty with the score 3-0, being a senior defender that has one career goal, but she waved him off. ... Texas didn't arrive to the stadium until 45 minutes before the match because of bus troubles.
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