ber 17, jJ
Monday • November 17, 1997
S The Battalion
PORTS
The End of the Road
\eason comes to early end as SMU upsets A&M in NCAA first round
By Stephen Boudreau
Staff writer
Soccer is a game that can be won
ost in a minute. Yesterday at the
|;ie Soccer Complex, the Texas
JM Soccer Team found out just
■wtrue that is.
|For the second consecutive year,
;Aggies were dismissed from the
]AA National Championship tour-
ment in the first round. This time
vas Southern Methodist Universi-
who stunned the favored Aggies 1-
jefore a crowd of 836, the smallest
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‘In one word, it’s frustrating. This
is the second year in a row we’ve
gotten to this position where we’ve
been able to play at home, we have
an unbelievable record and we hit
everything but the back of the net.
We squandered our opportunities,”
coach G. Guerrieri said.
Despite dominating the flow of
the game and demonstrating offen
sive and defensive dominance,
A&M could not put the ball in the
back of the net. The Aggies outshot
the Mustangs 18-5, led by Bryn
Blalack who had seven.
“In championship play you’ve
got to put them away,” Guerrieri
said. “You can’t give a team that
fights as hard as SMU a chance to
stay in the game and defend. They
are a team that is based on defend
ing all over the field.”
With under two minutes remain
ing in the first half, Mustang forward
Laura Snyder set up a cross pass to
the A&M goal. What seemed like a
routine grab resulted in what would
be the difference in the game.
The pass slipped through A&M
keeper Melanie Wilson’s gloves as
she prepared to send the ball away.
“It was a cross, not even a shot. It
wasn’t even a good cross, wasn’t even
a good shot. It’s kind of ironic that our
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DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion
sxas A&M sophomore goalkeeper Melanie Wilson dives to stop a ball in the first half of SMLTs 1-0 victory over
teAggies in the first round of the NCAA Soccer Tournament Sunday afternoon at the Aggie Soccer Complex.
strength throughout this year has
been our defense and our goal keep
ing,” Guerrieri said. “It’s the first soft
goal we’ve given up all year, probably
the first soft goal we’ve given up since
Melanie has been keeper. She’s an
outstanding keeper. It was a ball that
was too easy, she looked away for a
brief second and the slippery ball
went through her hands. “
With ten minutes to go in the
game, panic set in, focus was lost and
the Aggies appeared to fall apart.
“I hate to say it was one of those
days, but it really was. SMU came in
here to frustrate us and they did,”
Guerrieri said. “If anyone watched
the game they know who was the
more talented group.”
The Aggies had plenty of oppor
tunities to put the ball in the back of
the net, but could not finish off plays.
The best opportunity for the Ag
gies was in the 51st minute when a
Bryn Blalack shot ricocheted off the
top goal post, but bounced away
from the net.
“ We came out ready to play, we
just didn’t take care of business,”
Blalack said. “Bottom line was, we
just didn’t do it.”
The game marked the end of the
road for the seniors on the A&M
squad. Seniors Bryn Blalack, Sonia
Ibanez, Diana Rowe and Jessica
Mouske suited up for the last time
as members of the team.
“It’s disappointing. I don’t know
what to think,” Rowe said. “I keep
telling Bryn and Sonia I’ll have to
take up a new sport now. 1 just don’t
think it’s really sunk in yet.”
The Mustangs move on now to
take on the winner of the UCLA vs.
Portland game in the second round
of the playoffs. For the Aggies, this
marks the disappointing end to an
incredible, and what seemed like a
championship season.
“They’ve been given don’t-hang-
your-head speeches since they were
five years old,” Guerrieri said. “Peo
ple deal with losses in their own in
dividual ways, we’ll give them time
to get over it, we’ll get back togeth
er tomorrow and move on.”
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DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion
Junior Emily Elias colides with an SMU player during a very physical first
round game of the NCAA Soccer Tournament.
Aggies earn trip to San Antonio with 51-7 drubbing of OU
AP Top 25
\seniot
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By Jeff Webb
Staff writer
NORMAN, OK—'The wheels finally fell off
lie Sooner wagon in the frigid air of Owen
iekt Saturday evening as Texas A&M secured
iberth in the Big 12 Championship game by
bating the University of Oklahoma 51-7. The
bn stands as the most lopsided in the history
Ithe series that dates back to 1903.
Perhaps the beating that Oklahoma re-
eived was best summarized by the blind side
ilock delivered by A&M senior offensive guard
teve McKinney on unsuspecting OU defen-
iveend Corey Callens in the second quarter,
lallens made an attempt to go to the huddle
W collapsed on the field where he was carted
ton a stretcher.
The R.C. Slocum plan was executed to per-
fetion against the Sooners. The Aggies mixed
be run and pass for a balanced offense and
'ere able to hold the ball for lengthy periods in
be first half, when the game was in doubt. At
be end of the half, the Aggies had 92 rushing
ards and 98 passing yards. Aggie quarterback
banndon Stewart was 9-16 for 133 yards, com-
RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion
unior D’Andre Hardeman scores in the first
%ter Saturday night against Oklahoma.
pleting passes to seven different receivers.
Once again, the double-team of Sirr Parker and
Dante Hall disappointed no one. Parker had 22
carries for 123 yards and Hall rushed for three
touchdowns and 139 yards.
“The offensive line did a great job and had
good execution,” Hall said. “They made it
easy for me to clear the line of scrimmage.
Our coaches all week stressed execution and
ball control and not to make mistakes.”
The back-breaking chain of events oc
curred in the third quarter when, after a Sirr
Parker fumble on the goal line, the Aggies
stopped Oklahoma on fourth and 11. Three
plays after taking possession, A&M scored on
a 60-yard touchdown by Dante Hall.
Aftera Rich Coadyinterception on the Soon
ers’ next offensive play, Sirr Parker broke off a 40-
yard touchdown of his own to make the score
51 -0. Oklahoma avoided the shutout by scoring
a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma miscues were the main reason
for the “Norman Massacre.” r Ihe Sooners fum
bled four times, losing two and threw three in
terceptions, all by sophomore Justin Fuente.
He played quarterback during the second half
once Oklahoma was forced to abandon their
option attack.
“It’s disappointing to go out and play the
way I did, even though the score was bad
when I went in,” Fuente said. “I didn’t expect
to play, but I did prepare myself in practice
this week. I turned the ball over too much and
had a couple of miscommunications that re
sulted in interceptions.”
The Sooner offense did not fare much bet
ter under quarterbacks Brandon Daniels and
Eric Moore, who went 2-6 for minus eight
yards. The Sooners had more penalty yards
(51) than total offense (33) in the first half.
That faithful Sooner crowd was nonexis
tent in the second half with most Oklahoma
fans watching the end from their cozy living
RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion
Junior safety Rich Coady drags down Oklahoma’s Jermaine Fazande during A&M’s 51-7 win.
rooms. The attendance at the Oklahoma vic
tory over Jackson State in basketball earlier in
the day drew 11,123 fans, but barely that
many were left after the whistle blew on the
hapless football team.
With Oklahoma State losing to Texas Tech
earlier in the day, the game carried extra sig
nificance. The Aggies knew when they left the
locker room that if they could defeat the
Sooners, they would be on their way to San
Antonio for the Big 12 Championship game.
“We knew Oklahoma State had lost when we
came out on the field,” linebacker Dat Nguyen
said. “Coach Slocum told us to have fun and ex
ecute. On defense we tried to fly to the ball and
cause turnovers. It feels good to know that we’re
in the championship game, but we still have a
very big regular season game left.”
“I was pleased with our focus,” Coach R.C.
Slocum said. “We knew that Oklahoma State
had lost and that the Big 12 race had come
down to this one game. We wanted to come out
swinging and jump on them early to win this
game and move on to San Antonio. This is the
ninth straight week of games for us and I was
pleased with our focus.”
A few more milestones were achieved in the
win. A&M place kicker Kyle Bryant broke
school records for extra points made (141) and
field goals (58). Bryant is also the first Aggie to
break the 300 point barrier with 311 career
points. Aggie Coach R.C. Slocum tied Homer
Norton for the most career wins by a head
coach with 82.
The Aggies must now focus their attention on
the showdown with Texas next Friday and not
overlook the fact they will be facing powerhouse
Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game.
Record
Pts
1.Michigan (44)
10-0
1,723
2.FloridaSt. (24)
10-0
1,695
3.Nebraska (2)
10-0
1,622
4.QhioSt.
10-1
1,513
5.Tennessee
8-1
1,442
6.PennSt.
8-1
1,401
7.UCLA
8-2
1,296
S.NorthCarolina 9-1
1,264
9.Kansas St.
9-1
1,198
10. Florida
8-2
1,066
11. Wash. St.
9-1
1,054
12. ArizonaSt.
8-2
1,027
13. Auburn
8-2
888
14. Georgia
7-2
838
15. Miss. St.
7-2
686
16. Texas A&M
8-2
657
17. Washington
7-3
514
18. Syracuse
8-3
506
19. VirginiaTech
7-2
494
20. LSU
7-3
456
21. Missouri
7-4
277
22. WestVirginia
7-2
208
23. Purdue
7-3
185
24. Wisconsin
8-3
178
25. Colorado St.
8-2
168
Others receiving votes:
Southern
Miss. 70, Air Force 68, Mississippi
46, Toledo 33, Oklahoma St. 31,
Iowa 28, Marshall 27, Texas Tech 26,
Louisiana Tech 23, New Mexico 21,
Southern Cal 11, Clemson 5, Vir-
ginia 4, Utah St. 1.
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