COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Junior goalkeeper
Sydney Newton set a school record with 14 saves while making her first start of the 2015 season Sunday night at No. 3 Texas A&M, which scored three times in the second half en route to a 4-1 win at Ellis Field.
Half of the Aggies' goals were scored on penalty kicks taken in the 67th and 70th minutes by Haley Pounds, who finished with a natural hat trick. She also scored the game-winning goal at the start of the 58th minute with assists coming from Karlie Mueller and Kate Hajdu.
ACU's lone goal also was on a PK taken by sophomore
Chantal Kinsey, whose first points of the year came in the 17th minute. It was her first goal since ACU's 5-1 win over UT Pan American last Sept. 12 in San Antonio.
Unfortunately, ACU's lead lasted just over two minutes as the Aggies received their equalizer at the 18:42 mark off the foot of Mikaela Harvey from inside the six-yard box. Harvey's fourth goal of the fall was assisted by Stephanie Malherbe and Emily Bates.
The Aggies improved to 5-1 with the victory, while the Wildcats fell to 1-4-1 with two more tough matches at TCU and Texas right around the corner next Friday and Sunday. ACU's match vs. UT will be televised on the Longhorn Network.
"We really played tough the first half and with a good amount of composure against a great team," said head coach
Casey Wilson. "It really shows how capable we can be at times. We just need to do it longer ... As for Sydney, she played great and showed quite a bit of athleticism with some of the saves she made."
Newton has steadily been splitting time in net with classmate
Kelsey Dombrowski since the start of the 2013 season, but never played against an opponent quite as talented and multi-faceted as the Aggies, who regularly play deep into the NCAA postseason.
Newton came into the match with a career high of nine saves (Sept. 5, 2014 vs. North Texas) and nearly reached that total following a first half in which the Aggies fired 15 shots and took five corner kicks.
Texas A&M was equally relentless on behalf of their 2,718 fans in the second half, blasting 16 shots to go along with seven additional corners. But Newton continued to find the ball time-and-time again (with the exception of the penalty kicks) and added six more saves to her already considerable total.
By comparison, A&M starting goalkeeper Taylor Saucier made one save in 75:53 minutes of action (vs. freshman
Sophie Standifer), while backup Mia Hummel faced only two shots over the final 14:07. One of those shots sailed high and another was blocked as the Wildcats finished with six attempts and two on goal.
Newton's 14 saves broke the old school record of 11, which was previously held by Allison Egan (Oct. 3, 2007 vs. Midwestern State) and Elliott London (Oct. 16, 2011 vs. Angelo State and Nov. 13, 2011 vs. Midwestern State).
Additionally, the 31 shots allowed by ACU were its most since the program's first year of 2007 when Central Oklahoma had 38 in its 7-0 win in Edmond, Okla.
