Freshman Charlie Fraser tallied four points in the loss against Texas A&M

Inconsistent play from quarter to quarter rarely allows for success in the end. Texas reaffirmed that truth last Friday evening against their archrival, No. 17 Texas A&M. "We, for some reason, have a really hard time coming out pumped up for games and playing with intensity from start to finish, even in a game as big as this one," head coach Noah Fink acknowledged.

The Longhorns spotted the visiting Aggies a 3-0 head start in the first quarter and very nearly lost their handle on the game. Had it not been for timely goals by Evans Swann and Alex Kroviak, among others, Texas would not have been able to knot the halftime score at five.

The third quarter brought a collapse that has plagued the Horns this season in games against other ranked opponents, including Colorado and Colorado State. "Failed clears, turnovers near midfield, and costly penalties" were all errors that Fink cited as leading to an A&M lead that escalated to 8-5 by the end of the quarter and 11-5 later in the fourth. UT’s defense was uncharacteristically weak, allowing the Aggie cutters to catch the ball on the crease and shoot unhindered time and time again.

Finally, the Longhorns showed some life in the fourth, but could never pare the lead to less than three. Texas A&M's attackmen continued to have their way, responding to every Longhorn surge by rolling top-side past late, or even non-existent, slide support. Still, behind late scores from Swann, Paul McCloud and Dennis Chang, Texas made a game of it to the end and, despite a fervent effort, lost 12-9. "What is really frustrating is that we have the talent to be a great team," Fink said. "And we've shown that when we put our minds to it, we can play great lacrosse. We just didn’t do that until it was too late tonight." Swann finished the contest with three goals and an assist, Kroviak had two and two, and freshman Charlie Fraser finished his first chance to participate in the rivalry with a goal and three assists.

Senior Dennis Sukholutsky clears the ball

Though the Horns did not avenge their two-goal loss in the LSA championship game last season, they will most likely have the chance to meet the Aggies again come conference tournament time this year. Friday's game essentially determined which team would win the LSA South regular season and receive a tournament bye and which would have to play a first round play-in game against Texas State to reach the LSA championship weekend in Dallas the first week of May.

Click Here for Photos (by Gemma Williams)

by Aaron Motsinger