In the final home game of the Texas’ 2006 season, fans crowded every bleacher to witness a classic Lone Star rivalry between the Longhorns and Aggies. The game began with both teams moving at top speed to score first. Unfortunate mishaps on the Texas offense led to the Aggies’ first goal in the game coming just minutes after the opening whistle. Texas, still unable to clean up mistakes, allowed four more goals in the first quarter to put them back 1-5. The second quarter brought the start of the Horns’ true game. The Texas offense pumped in 3 goals while their defense allowed only one. A rejuvenated Longhorn team stepped into halftime narrowing the gap to 4-6.

Again the Horns came out strong in the third quarter with two goals by Conor Fleming who scored his first within seconds of coming off the bench. As the Longhorns caught on to Fleming’s execution, they continued putting in goals and rattling the Aggies’ defense. The quarter ended with a 9-7 lead in favor of Texas along with a three minute non-releasable penalty on an Aggie player for an illegal stick. The Horns started the fourth quarter in great shape, sending their man-up team to finish off Texas A&M. However, the next three minutes brought a detrimental Texas drought. With the Aggies able to fend off the Horns for the duration, momentum swung back to the Aggies who proceeded to “run with it”. Within minutes, Texas found themselves again on the wrong side of the score board. As time closed, the Horns stood in a one point deficit with only two minutes remaining in regulation. An exciting goal with one and a half minutes to go was scored by the Longhorns to tie the game.

Regulation play ended without further score as both teams headed into overtime. With the crowd on its feet, Alex Kroviak won the face-off and moved the ball into scoring position. Through tough defense, the Horns were able to fire a couple of shots at the goalie, just missing cage. After a long possession, Texas unfortunately lost the ball and saw the Aggies take it away from them. In heartbreaking fashion, the Aggies found the back of the net and stole victory from the Horns in sudden death overtime.

Disappointed by a stunning defeat on their home turf, the Horns were quick to consolidate each other in preparation for an even more important game one week from the day against top LSA contender, Texas Tech, whom they travel to Lubbock to play this weekend. In route to secure the remainder of the season, the Horns put this bitter loss in the back of their minds for now. Texas A&M captured the final winning goal in this years’ regular season match up, but the Horns will be ready to take care of business against the Aggies in the near future, should it be needed.

by William Kenneth Forrest