COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M faces defending national champion Florida State on Friday in Tallahassee with a chance for the Aggies to advance to their second consecutive College Cup.
Playing in their sixth NCAA Quarterfinal, including their second in a row, the youthful Aggies are on a tournament run that includes a 2-1 win against Washington in the first round, giving North Carolina a second round exit for the first time in the 34-year history of the tournament, and prevailing in a PK shootout against Ole Miss in the third round. Texas A&M’s starting lineup in the third round featured five freshmen and four sophomores.
On Friday, the Aggies’ arsenal will be paced by a sophomore and two freshmen. Second-year player Haley Pounds leads the team with 31 points on a team-high 13 goals to go with five assists. Rookies Emily Bates and Ally Watt have 20 and 14 points, respectively. Bates has seven goals and six assists, and Watt boasts seven goals including the game-winner against UNC. The Aggies will be without the services of Mikaela Harvey who was booked with a dubious second yellow card in the first overtime period against Ole Miss.
On the defensive end, Danielle Rice has three shutouts in six starts. She combined with the Aggie backline to keep North Carolina scoreless in an NCAA Championship game for just the eighth time in 135 matches. The junior goalkeeper made two saves in the six rounds of the penalty kick shootout against Ole Miss.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Aggies are playing in their 21st consecutive NCAA Championship, one of five teams to play in each of the last 21 tournaments. The other schools to make it to every tournament since 1995 are North Carolina (1982-2014), Notre Dame (1993-2014), Virginia (1994-2014) and Penn State (1995-2014). A&M is 33-20-5 (.612) all-time in the NCAA Championship. This season, the Aggies appeared in the Sweet 16 for the 14th time. The Maroon and White have advanced to the Elite Eight six times, including each of the last two seasons. The Aggies made their first College Cup appearance last season.
Since 1999, Texas A&M has made 13 Sweet Sixteen appearances which is tied with Stanford for fifth in the nation for highest total during that span. The Aggies trail only North Carolina (16), UCLA (16), Virginia (16), and Florida State (15) over that stretch.
Elite Eight (6) – 2001, ’02, ’06, ’08, ’14, ’15
College Cup (1) – 2014
ADVANCING TO GOOD COMPANY
Texas A&M has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship in each of their last 18 appearances. It marks the third-longest active streak behind only North Carolina (34) and Virginia (22). The Maroon and White have gone 16-0-2 during the span, advancing on PKs in 2003 (vs. SMU) and 2010 (vs. North Dakota State).
Since 1999, Texas A&M has made 13 Sweet Sixteen appearances which is tied with Stanford for fifth in the nation for highest total during that span. The Aggies trail only North Carolina (16), UCLA (16), Virginia (16), and Florida State (15) over that stretch.