COLLEGE STATION - A bloody nose, five yellow cards and a red card punctuated an already heated rivalry Friday night in a game that featured an elbow, plenty of penalty box collisions and the need for a backup goal keeper.
Just another chapter in the Texas-Texas A&M saga.
"Any match against A&M is going to be physical," said Texas defender Kasey Moore.
Physical play characterized the play throughout No. 5 Texas A&M's 2-0 home shutout of the No. 6 Longhorns. Texas (9-2-2, 2-1-1) struggled to keep possession amidst tight on-the-ball defense from the Aggies (10-2-1, 4-1-0 Big 12), resulting in turnover after turnover.
"We weren't keeping the ball," said Texas forward Kelsey Carpenter. "When you're ball chasing, you're going to make those kind of fouls."
The game featured 28 fouls amongst the two sides, 18 of which were called against Texas, the most they have committed in a game all season.
The highlight of the physical contest came in minute 32. Moore went in for a tackle on A&M's Allison Martino, to which Martino responded with an elbow to the back. The referee booked Martino with an instant red card, forcing A&M to play a man down for the rest of the match.
Despite the player advantage, Texas, down 1-0 at the time, failed to score a goal. They out shot the Aggies 10-6 for the rest of the match, but could not get past A&M goal keeper Kristin Arnold, who recorded five of her seven saves during that stretch.
During the second half, another collision would put the game out of reach for the Longhorns.
Texas goal keeper Dianna Pfenninger came off of her line in minute 73 to meet a streaking Ashlee Pistorius in the box for a rough collision. A bleeding Pfenninger was called for a foul, giving A&M a chance for their third penalty of the season. Texas would be forced to take Pfenninger out of the game as her nose continued to bleed and enter backup goal keeper Stephanie Conners, a walk-on from the Texas club team.
Pistorius would put it past Conners on the ensuing penalty kick, clinching the A&M victory and pushing the series record between the two rivals to 15-3 in favor of the Aggies.
After the game, Texas head coach Chris Petrucelli explained that amount of fouls in the game was a result of the team's struggle to hold possession of the ball throughout the game.
"Part of the reason it was so physical is we kept giving the ball up," he said. "We'd give it away, and then foul."
The inability to keep possession proved to be a problem for Texas, even when the Aggies were forced to play with only 10 players.
"I thought really across the lineup all of our players had great nights, being down a man and to still be able to keep the possession for most of the game," said A&M head coach G. Guerrieri.
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