On a night when goals are sure to be scored, it's good to get the first and last.
That's what No. 7 Texas A&M did on Friday, handing No. 12 Oklahoma State its first defeat, 2-1, at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.
Barely into the third minute, A&M's Laura Grace Robinson had the ball fall at her feet a touch after a free kick bounced off the OSU wall. She sent a shot inside the far post along the ground, giving the Aggies (9-1-1, 2-0-1 Big 12) a 1-0 lead.
"They come out with a lot of energy and we stopped that at the very beginning, and it relaxed us a little bit and let us play," Robinson said of her fourth goal of the season. "I kind of turned and said 'Whoa, I'm completely open,' and guided it back post. I wasn't expecting to be that wide open."
The game-winner was more of a classic goal. A&M's Beth West, who assisted on the first goal, sent a ball across the box to Jennifer Kmezich, who changed the direction with a header that crossed up OSU goalkeeper Erin Stigler.
The goal came in the 41st minute, just one minute after Kmezich had entered the game. It was her team-leading fifth goal.
"We thought it would be a pretty marquee matchup all throughout the midfield," A&M coach G. Guerrieri said. "They've done a great job of being able to control pace of games and we think we've been able to do the same thing. Tonight, I thought Laura Grace Robinson got off to a great start and the same thing with Beth West and [Rachel] Shipley when we put her in."
Oklahoma State (9-1-1, 1-1-1) showed why it's the No. 2 scoring team in the nation in the 35th minute on a pass from Allyson Leggett to Krista Lopez at the corner of the 6-yard box. Lopez back-heeled the ball into the air and found a charging Kasey Langdon, who ran onto it and redirected it past A&M goalkeeper Kelly Dyer.
"The goal they scored was a good goal, three different passes and a flick to the back post," Guerrieri said. "That's tough to defend."
It was the first goal Dyer and the Aggies had surrendered in 275 minutes.
It wasn't much longer before A&M nearly gave up a second, but Yolanda Odenyo's rocket from 35 yards out hit the crossbar and bounced straight down and just barely back into the field of play.
Odenyo leads the Big 12 with nine goals, but that was the only shot that put a scare into the Aggies.
Oklahoma State had one other good opportunity to square the game at 2-2. In the 59th minute, Sierra Strawser sent Katie Richardson free in the penalty box. Richardson's shot was headed for goal, but Dyer read the play, closed the angle and deflected it harmlessly to the ground.
From that point on the Aggies were never in danger, even though the Cowgirls kept sending balls into the penalty box.
"Our back line gets better and better as they play together, and [second half sub] Micah Stephens was fantastic and Kelly Dyer was rock solid," Guerrieri said.
A&M plays host to Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
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