It marked the ninth time in 10 seasons under head coach Brian Lee for the Tigers (4-6-1, 0-2 SEC) to play host to an opponent ranked among the Top 10 teams in the country at the LSU Soccer Stadium as they now own a 4-5 mark in those nine matches. The Aggies (8-1-1, 2-0) remain unbeaten in the series as they improve to 4-0-1 all-time against the Tigers.

The Tigers will look to snap a four-game skid on Sunday when they return to action against the Arkansas Razorbacks with kickoff set for 3:05 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium in Baton Rouge.

“We were a little tentative coming out. They got the goal, and then we responded really well to get it to 1-1,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “A&M’s physicality wore on us, and we didn’t have an answer for it. We did not react very well. We just didn’t stand up and confront it head on and respond like we needed to. A&M handled it better than we did over the course of the game.”

The Aggies struck quickly just 98 seconds from the opening kick when Monogue buried a one-time strike from 10 yards in front of the penalty spot on a centering pass from the left side by Allie Bailey. Monogue netted her eighth goal of the season to briefly tie standout midfielder Shea Groom as the team’s leading goal scorer.

The Tigers replied straightaway when Pina fired home from the top of the box just 29 seconds after Monogue’s opener for her second goal of the season at the 2:07 mark of the first half. Following a throw-in from the far touch line by left back Tori Sample, striker Jorian Baucom played a one-touch pass to Pina at the top of the box for a right-footed finish inside the right post to draw the Tigers level at 1-1 in the third minute.

“It was a great feeling,” Pina said of scoring the tying goal. “My mom and my sister came in to see us play, so it was nice having them here. It would have meant more if we would have also come out with a victory.”

The visitors put the match out of reach midway through the first half when striker Annie Kunz and Groom scored two goals in succession just over two minutes apart to give the Aggies a 3-1 lead heading into the break. Bianca Brinson played Kunz into space in the right side of the area for a curling effort inside the left post to reclaim the lead for Texas A&M in the 26^th minute. Groom doubled the Aggies’ advantage in the 29^th minute as she headed home a cross into the box from the left side by Haley Pounds for her team-best ninth goal of the season.

Groom reached double figures in the 54^th minute when she headed Meghan Streight’s free kick from near the center circle into the back of the net for her SEC-leading 10^th goal of the season.

“We have to recover,” Lee said. “One of the good things about falling out early there in the second half was that we were able to rest just about everybody and get a little more rest than we normally would have. With Arkansas coming in after having their game moved to Thursday this week by the SEC Network, they catch an extra day of rest on us. We were able to make up for that a little bit tonight.”

The Tigers will look for a quick turnaround when they return to action on Sunday afternoon as they play host to the Arkansas Razorbacks with kickoff set for 3:05 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium in Baton Rouge. They will make their SEC Network television debut when the Razorbacks come to town in a crucial match early in the SEC season.