Ags earn first SEC result via scoreless draw with No. 6 South Carolina

From the source Match #14: Texas A&M 0, No. 6 South Carolina 0 Records: Texas A&M (4-9-1, 0-6-1), South Carolina (11-1-2, 5-0-2) Box Score

A shutout against No. 6 South Carolina and a point for the Ags.

Thursday night’s scoreless draw in College Station marked Texas A&M’s (4-9-1, 0-6-1) first point of the season, and it came against No. 6 South Carolina (11-1-2, 5-0-2) under the lights at Ellis Field with 1,318 in attendance.

Although there was nothing on the scoreboard, there was plenty on the pitch.

A penalty kick save from junior goalkeeper Sydney Fuller in the 85th minute stalled the game at 0-0 and gave the Aggies their first draw of the season.

Freshman goalkeeper Makenna August was ejected in the final moments of the Mississippi State game for denying a scoring chance and served her one-game suspension Thursday night.

Fuller entered the game for the final minute last Friday, and Thursday night she made her first start of the season and 21st of her career.

Within 30 seconds of kickoff, the referees halted the game due to Fuller’s Maroon jersey contrasting too closely with South Carolina’s. Fuller swapped the kit for a pink No. 12.

“Being able to kind of represent the 12th Man and like step up when you're called to step up,” Fuller said. “That's really just what I wanted to do tonight and be able to contribute to my team in whatever way that I could.”

A young A&M team went against a mature South Carolina side, and the Aggies took control over their home pitch.

A&M controlled possession early in the first half, with 12 shots and four on goal.

It was a physical match, with 34 total fouls called — 15 from A&M, and 19 from South Carolina.

“It comes down to us staying proactive and staying on the front foot, and staying aggressive,” A&M head coach Bobby Shuttleworth said. “When we do those things, we're hard to handle.”

“It comes down to us staying proactive and staying on the front foot, and staying aggressive. When we do those things, we're hard to handle.”

The Aggies maintained control throughout the 90 minutes, outshooting the Gamecocks 23-14 with seven shots on goal.

“We were connected the whole game, and we showed all of our fight we could,” sophomore Riley Crooks said.

The Ags created many quality opportunities but couldn't get past South Carolina's Christina Tsaousis, who now has eight shutouts this season.

A pass from Holly Storer to Ireland Churchill, then a back kick to Lucy Landherr, went right toward the post for it to be saved by Tsaousis. The 74th-minute try was their closest and most dangerous shot of the night.

In the 85th, Finley Lacher denied a dangerous scoring opportunity with a handball and was handed a red card, leading to a penalty kick for South Carolina’s Cuyler Zulauf. However, Fuller denied the best chance of the night. The play went under review, but stood.

Lacher will serve a one-game suspension and not play on Sunday.

“It's like, ‘OK, now I've got to do this for (Lacher), too,’” Fuller said. “She's gonna be out the next game. She left everything for the team. So, I gotta do the same thing.”

Texas A&M has received a red card in each of its last three matches.

“She looked good,” Shuttleworth said of Lacher. “The penalty save was massive. It's one of the, probably the biggest moments of the game, and she comes up with a stop. She waited for her opportunity, and she fully took it, and won the game for us.

“This performance deserved a result. A draw is probably fair coming off the penalty and our chances, but I think we fought and battled, and we did that for 90 minutes”

The Aggies will stay on their home pitch on Sunday for an afternoon matchup against LSU on Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. CT.

“I think if we build off this and fix some things, we did a lot of good things tonight,” Crooks said. “I think if we do those on Sunday, we'll definitely get the result we want.”