University of North Texas
15-3-3
Texas A&M
16-4-1
UNT Bows Out In Heartbreaking OT Loss
11/9/2018 11:12:00 PM | Women's Soccer
COLLEGE STATION – For 108 minutes of play on Friday night, North Texas held No. 16 Texas A&M scoreless despite a barrage of shots on the Mean Green's net.
With less than two minutes to play until penalty kicks would've decided the first-round NCAA Tournament game at Ellis Field, the Aggies made one count and ended the Mean Green's season in heartbreaking fashion, 1-0.
A&M's dynamic forward Ally Watt took a long, bouncing punt from A&M keeper Cosette Morche near the 18-yard box, fought off a challenge from Carissa Sanders, another from Dominique James and lofted a ball over a charging Kelsey Brann from 7 yards out for a golden goal with a minute, 58 seconds left on the clock in the second 10-minute overtime period.
Despite the lone goal, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Brann stood out for the Mean Green, finishing the night with a career-high 11 saves, including eight in the first 90 minutes.
"Well, this is as tough as it gets, losing in the last minutes of double overtime," Hedlund said. "The way Kelsey was playing all night, we liked our chances if it went to PKs, but unfortunately, A&M had the late goal.
"I really want to congratulate (A&M coach) G and his team on a great game and wish them the best of luck," Hedlund added. "To me, this game should have been probably a second-round match, especially with the season we had. Our RPI was 33 and A&M's at 10, but nevertheless, I couldn't be more proud of my team. They've done so much this year, winning both conference titles, being ranked in the top 25 and having an RPI as high as 25. This season was pretty amazing. Our next step is to host these NCAA tournament games. It's such a big advantage to play at home, and with our new stadium in place (for next season), it is very possible."
The way Brann was playing had her teammates and Hedlund awaiting a penalty kick shootout – one that was just less than two minutes away when the game ended.
A&M (16-4-1) outshot UNT (15-3-3) 29-11 for the game, but the Mean Green had two great scoring chances, in particular.
North Texas had a golden opportunity in 32nd minute on its first corner kick of the night, when Madeline Guderian sent a ball into a scrum that found Ansley Bunger's head. The ball made it past Morche, but it was blocked by an Aggie defender just before crossing the goal line. The deflected shot once again found Bunger's head, but Morche saved the second attempt.
At the beginning of the second overtime period, in the 103rd minute, Elle Marie DeFrain fired a rocket from 35 yards out that almost dipped in behind Morche, who retreating to her net, but she managed to tip it over the crossbar for a corner.
"It was a tremendous game," Hedlund said. "We had our opportunities. We had chances. They saved one off the goal line. Their keeper made some good saves."
After the game, Hedlund huddled with his team and told them how much he enjoyed this season – the regular season conference championship, the C-USA tournament championship and the hard-fought NCAA tournament game in one of the best environments in college soccer.
Team Stats
Watt, Ally (14)
powered between two defenders shot from
108:02
