Going Back to Cali

By Austin Wall

The Aggie starters shake hands with Sonoma State to start the game

San Franciso, CA -- Texas A&M took another big step towards their goal of making the MCLA National Tournament last weekend when they took a trip to Northern California to face off against out-of-conference foes in an attempt to strengthen their schedule and bring home some quality wins. They were scheduled to play games against strong WCLL teams on three consecutive days beginning on Friday. After arriving at Oakland International Airport on Thursday and getting a night’s rest, they were ready and anxious to begin their pursuit for a winning weekend.

The competition began with a Friday night game that saw the 3-0 Texas A&M Aggies pitted against the 1-2 Aggies of UC Davis. Texas A&M went on the offensive first, scoring three goals in the first quarter to UC Davis’s one. For the rest of the first half and into the third quarter the two squads battled back and fourth with Texas A&M keeping a 2-3 goal lead throughout. The game was highlighted with much physical play, something that A&M had to recognize and adjust to in order keep UC Davis at bay. During the fourth quarter the home field advantage of UC Davis began to show, when behind a cheering crowd they were able to pull within one goal of A&M, 8-7. With three minutes left in the game it was time for Texas A&M to show that they had what it takes to finish off a closely contested game. A&M did just that, with two goals in the final two minutes of play that sent them back to the Days Inn with a well deserved 10-7 win.

On the next day A&M traveled to San Jose for their one o’clock match-up against 0-1 Santa Clara. A&M had beaten Santa Clara in the past two years and knew that it would be a challenge to down the Broncos for a third consecutive time on their home turf. The game began roughly for the Aggies, facing them with some adversity that they had not yet encountered this season. After trading two goals with Santa Clara the Aggies found themselves trailing for the first time in their first five games by a score of 2-4. After regrouping during a timeout, A&M was able to answer by tying the game at four apiece after the first period in regulation. The Aggies responded in a big way in the second quarter, showing that they knew how to thrive in a hostile environment by posting a 5-1 quarter which put them in control at halftime with a score of 9-5. The Aggies never looked back in the second half, spreading the points around to many players and showing that their run-and-gun offense paired with a high pressure defense matched up well against the slow-down west coast style. The Aggies glided into their second win of the trip with a score of 17-11 against Santa Clara.

The final day of the trip was against the 14th ranked 1-0 Sonoma State Seawolves. Despite having played the last two days in a row the Aggies were eager for the game, seeing an undefeated weekend clearly in their reach. The Seawolves had other plans however and were not about to let A&M steamroll them as they had done to their fellow WCLL teams. The game was a very fast paced one with both teams attacking the opposition’s goal with every trip down and with little possession. Both teams attempted to quickly capitalize on the other team’s mistakes. The Aggies seemed to be a little lethargic from the past days games and the Seawolves were able to take advantage of this early with six goals in the first quarter to the Aggies none. In the second quarter the Aggies were able to break their scoring drought with a goal from Will James from Steve Bouchard. This seemed to energize the Aggies for a possible comeback. Sonoma State however, would see to it that no such comeback took place, as they were able to sustain a decent offensive output while frustrating Aggie scoring chances. In the end, A&M was unable to capitalize on its opportunities and made just a few too many mistakes to stage a comeback and were foiled by a very good team in the Seawolves. The final score showed a 6-10 loss for the A&M.

Despite the disappointing last game, the California trip was a great success for A&M and was a good measure against the rest of the country. They headed back to College Station knowing that they still have much work to do in order to see their goals realized, but also understand that those goals are still very attainable. The Ag’s are optimistic that the past weekend has provided them with valuable experience that they will use down the stretch of a long, hard season.