SOCCER FALLS TO A&M 3-1

Friday, November 5

San Antonio, Texas

6:30 PM

Colorado

14-5-2

Texas A&M (Semifinal)

16-5-0

Colorado

Texas A&M

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

November 05, 2004 | Soccer

Box Score

By: CUBuffs.com

SAN ANTONIO - Fran Munnelly converted her second penalty kick in as many games in the 84th minute, but the University of Colorado soccer team couldn't overcome two quick first half scores by 10th ranked Texas A&M as the Aggies sent the 24th-ranked Buffs back to Boulder on the short end of a 3-1 Big 12 Tournament semifinal round score here at the Blossom Soccer Complex Friday night.

The loss ended the league's longest win streak at six games, and for the second time in three seasons A&M ended CU's run to the Big 12 Tournament title.  The loss gives the Buffs their first since falling 2-1 to the then-seventh ranked Aggies back on Oct. 8 in Boulder, and puts CU at 14-5-2 while the Aggies improve to 16-5-0. It also extends the Buffs' winless streak against the Aggies to 10 games dating back to the '96 season.

In the first semifinal match, Kelly McDonald's goal in the 107th minute of a double overtime decision gave fourth-seeded Texas the come-from-behind 3-2 upset over top seed Kansas setting up an all-Lone Star State final, pitting Texas and A&M in the Big 12 Tournament Championship tilt Sunday at noon (MT) for the second time in four seasons.

The Buffs were hoping for a similar fate to that of the Longhorns, who were down 2-0 at halftime, but netted three unanswered scores to advance to Sunday's final.

"They were definitely the better team tonight," said head coach Bill Hempen. "We didn't have an answer for their intensity the first half. But we made some adjustments and had a spark when Jessie made that save on their second pk and when Burke got that red card. But the passion and intensity that they play with is hard to match up against, especially in front of a partisan crowd."

Texas A&M capitalized early on its early offensive domination of the game, netting two goals in a 63 second span in the first 18 minutes of the game.

The Aggies scored the quickest opponent goal of the season when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 16th minute when Buffs keeper Jessica Keller, while attempting to grab a lose ball, fouled Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Ashlee Pistorius in the box and Amanda Burke converted her second pk of the season, putting the ball past Keller into the lower right corner of the net. An Aggie redirect off a long cross from Pistorius to Carrie Berend to Madison Klovstad whose header 63 seconds later made it a 2-0 A&M lead, forcing the Buffs to play against a two-goal deficit for just the second time this season, first since trailing by a pair of scores at Kansas on Sept. 26.

It nearly became a 3-0 lead when Darci Smerchek fouled Pistorius in the penalty area, but the Aggies' second pk by Pistorius in a 2:33 span was rejected by Keller, but set up A&M's second corner which was broken up when blocked by the CU defense.

After eight unanswered shots by A&M in the first 20 minutes, the Buffs were able to generate some offense of their own. An Ashlie Mihalcin header in the 21st minute was stopped by A&M keeper Kati Jo Spisak and Fran Munnelly's shot from 25 yards out went high in the 26th. Four minutes later a shot by Allie True was wide right. Jen Thais responded to three more A&M shots in the 36th minute also went right of the net.

By halftime, A&M had gotten 16 scoring opportunities, forcing Keller to make six stops in the opening stanza, including a dramatic mid-air snatch when Cristina Echavarry's shot from the left side of the box deflected off Laura Munnelly's foot in the 43rd minute.

The intensity of the game, which resulted in the issue of three cautions, came to a crescendo when A&M's Burke was ejected just two minutes into the second half for a flagrant foul at the cost of CU's Mihalcin who went down as a result, but never had to leave the field.

"Everyone wants to win. There was definitely a fever on the pitch that from that point on hit an all-time high. It was definitely a knock-down drag out fight till the end," said Hempen.

A Munnelly to Katie Griffin combination in the 59th minute forced Spisak to make her second save of the night, when a short pass from right to left from Munnelly just inside the top of the 18 set up Griffin's blast, her first shot of the game.

Keller continued to justify her All-Big 12 selection, when she tipped an Amy Berend shot from 20 yards over the net, and A&M ensuing corner kick initially cleared by a sliding Laura Munnelly was redirected to Kat Krambeer and her shot in the 69th minute was snagged by Keller.

Krambeer's next effort was the result of a rebounded save from a long shot from Laura Probst. It was saved by Keller, but the rebound fell between defenders Regan and Laura Munnelly and Krambeer was able to get a foot on it inside the six for the score in the 72nd minute.

Three minutes later a Fran Munnelly long serve from just shy of midfield found Thais on the elbow of the 18 and Thais beat Emily DeWoody, but her second shot was Spisak's third save of the game.

With just under seven minutes on the clock, Buff defender Tricia Regan nearly netted her second career goal in as many games as she sent a shot from 30 yards out and the initial save by Spisak was sent back into play off a rebound and Maura Gentile's follow-up shot was stopped on the goal line by an A&M defender.

Munnelly prevented the shutout when an A&M handball was called in the 84th minute, awarding CU its second penalty kick of the tournament, and Munnelly's second was converted when it went into the low left 90.

As the clock wound down, the Buffs were able to get off a fourth corner kick and Allie True's serve with 11 seconds on the clock was met by Regan, but her attempt to bring the Buffs within a single score fell short as time expired.

The remainder of Colorado's postseason fate lies in the hands of the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Selection Committee, which will announce the 64-team championship bracket Monday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. (MT) via ESPNews. First round action kicks off Nov. 12 on campus sites to be determined.

"The saving grace about tonight is that we're confident that we'll be playing next week," concluded Hempen.