Stafford unhappy with soccer’s 2-0 loss to Texas A&M

Inconsistent play led to a 2-0 loss for the women’s soccer team Sunday when they were defeated by No. 14 Texas A&M.

Head coach Neil Stafford said he was disappointed in his team’s failure to come home with a win against the Aggies.

“Unfortunately, not everyone performed the way we wanted them to,” Stafford said. “We had to go and get physical and get stuck in there and be technical to play hard. I think we did that at times, but not enough.”

Texas A&M struck early with a goal by sophomore midfielder Katie Perry before the five-minute mark. Perry placed the ball into the upper left corner of the goal, shooting from 25 yards out on a pass off the foot of sophomore defender Meghan Streight.

Though a strong defense kept the Chippewas within a goal of the Aggies for most of the game, a goal by senior midfielder Chelsea Jones in the 85th minute extended Texas A&M’s lead to the final score of 2-0.

Before the goal, CMU was trying to push players forward, but Stafford said they were caught in the counter attack and Texas A&M capitalized on the opportunity.

“Teams like that will punish you for your mistakes,” Stafford said. “I almost feel sorry for (goaltender) Steph (Turner), because those goals are the ones you’d see on Sports Center’s Top 10.”

The Aggies outshot the Chippewas 19-10, with nine of their shots being on goal compared to CMU’s three.

Senior defender Katie Slaughter and senior midfielder Bailey Brandon each had two of the nine shots for CMU, with freshman forward Danielle Rotheram contributing three shots to the total.

Brandon said the team dug a hole they could never get out of.

The Chippewas need to learn to focus when playing nationally ranked teams, she said.

“I think we need to realize to compete at this level, we need everyone to commit to playing the whole 90 minutes,” Bailey said.

Although she was disappointed in the outcome, Bailey said the game was great as non-conference experience.

“These games teach us and help to make sure all the mistakes are erased, so we’re nothing but perfection once (Mid-American Conference) play rolls around,” she said.

The Chippewas are now 4-2-1 after the loss to Texas A&M, but are also coming back from their Texas trip with a 2-0 win over Texas State.

Freshman midfielder Christen Chiesa scored her first-career goal off a corner by junior midfielder Kaely Schlosser. Junior forward Jennifer Gassman added the second goal.

CMU will play at Purdue on Wednesday. The team will have more than a week off before facing Kent State at home on Sept. 21.