No. 23 Texas A&M took advantage of an awarded penalty kick in the 65th minute to defeat the Utah Valley University women's soccer team, 1-0, at Ellis Field in College Station, Texas.
With the win, Texas A&M improves to 8-2-1, while Utah Valley drops to 4-9-0 on the season. The game was the final tune-up for Western Athletic Conference play for UVU, which will begin league play on Oct. 6, at UMKC.
Utah Valley was impressive on the defensive side of the ball as the team weathered 24 Aggie shots, including 12 shots on goal. Sarah Davis played all 90 minutes in goal for UVU, collecting a season-high 11 saves on the night. She withstood 21 Texas A&M corner kicks.
"I'm really proud of the team and the effort we put in," said Utah Valley head coach Chris Lemay. "One of our Achilles heels has been defending corners, and obviously we conceded quite a few and we bent but we did not break. In my opinion, Texas A&M is an elite eight, final four type team, and for us to come and throw punches with them was really impressive. Losing on a penalty kick that we thought was questionable is a tough pill to swallow. With that said, Texas A&M is a really good team and I thought our players showed very well and I couldn't be happier with them."
Texas A&M scored the game's lone goal in the 65th minute after Haley Pounds put a penalty shot just out of the reach of UVU's Davis on the left side to help the Aggies secure the 1-0 victory.
Utah Valley's Breanna McCarter and Laken Flinders led the team with two shots apiece. The Wolverines did have a pair of near misses as the team tallied nine shots with five on goal.
Utah Valley now begins conference play as the team travels to Kansas City to take on UMKC on Oct. 6. The team will then travel to play Chicago State on Oct. 8. The Wolverines return to Clyde Field on Oct. 12, against New Mexico State.
Jason Erickson works in the communications office at the Utah Valley University athletic department. For more information on Wolverine athletics, visit GoUVU.com.