COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After dipping their toes into the SEC pool each of the last two weekends, the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies will fully immerse themselves in league action this weekend with a road trip to play No. 17 South Carolina on Thursday and the Georgia Bulldogs on Sunday. Thursday’s match marks the third time in the last four weeks the Maroon and White have played a Top 20 team on the road. The match against the Gamecocks will match two of the three teams that share the top perch in the league standings. A&M and Carolina are tied with Kentucky with six points on 2-0-0 league marks.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Both matches this weekend are televised nationally with the SEC Network airing Thursday’s match and ESPNU broadcasting Sunday’s contest. Both matches are available digitally on mobile devices, tablets, PCs and connect-TVs for SEC Network subscribers whose cable/satellite packages allow access to SEC Network+ (Thursday)/ ESPNU (Sunday) through the WatchESPN app and SECSports.com. Both matches can be heard on the RadioAggieland app, RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com. Thursday’s match may be heard on SportsRadio 1150 The Zone and 102.7 FM in Bryan-College Station. Sunday’s match can be heard on Fusion FM – HD2 on HD radio at 95.1-2 FM locally.
NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last three seasons, the Aggies are 24-4-4 in games decided by one game or less. This season, the Maroon and White are 3-0-0 in games decided by one goal or less. Last season, Texas A&M went 11-2-2 in one-goal games, including a pair of 2-1 victories in their run to the College Cup. The Aggies went 10-2-2 in the nail-biters in 2012, including all three of their wins en route to winning their first-ever SEC Tournament title.
FAST STARTS…
The Aggies are off to a 9-1-0 start, equaling the best 10-match start in school history. Texas A&M has commenced a season with a 9-1-0 record on five occasions, including 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2012. The Aggies’ best start came in 1996 when they went 15-1-0. In 1997, the Maroon and White began the year with a 12-1-0 mark.
1996 15-1-0
1997 12-1-0
1999 9-1-0
2012 10-1-0
2015 9-1-0
WEAPONS UPON WEAPONS
Texas A&M boasts one of the largest caches of offensive weapons in the nation. Among SEC teams, the Aggies are the lone squad to boast more than five players with three or more goals and they are one of only SEC three teams sporting six players with two or more goals, along with Kentucky and Tennessee. Haley Pounds (7),Mikaela Harvey (4), Emily Bates (3), Kate Hajdu (3), Janae Cousineau (3) and McKayla Paulson (2) all have multiple goals on the year. Kentucky and Tennessee both have five players with multiple goals on the year.
GUERRIERI REACHES 400-WIN MILESTONE
Texas A&M head coach G Guerrieri ranks among the leaders in winning percentage and victories among active Division I coaches. With a career record of 403-122-29 (.753), he ranks fifth in victories and winning percentage (minimum five years as a Division I head coach). Guerrieri ranks fifth all-time among NCAA Division I coaches in victories, trailing only North Carolina’s Anson Dorrance (787), Connecticut’s Len Tsantiris (533), Florida’s Becky Burleigh (443) and Santa Clara’s Jerry Smith (430).
CREAM OF THE SEC CROP
Since Texas A&M’s entrance in the SEC in 2012, the Aggies own the best winning percentage in league play at .838 (30-5-2). Texas A&M and Florida are tied with most SEC wins over the span with 29 apiece, with the Gators owning a 30-7 mark (.811). Kentucky is the only other team in the league to log more than 20 wins in SEC play between 2012-2015, going 25-11-1.
Texas A&M and Florida have accounted for all of the regular-season and tournament titles the last three years. In 2012, Florida won the regular-season title by a two-point edge (33-31) and claimed the tournament crown. In 2013, the teams were co-champions identical 9-2-0 records in SEC play, but the Aggies prevailed over the Gators in the SEC Tournament championship game, 2-1. Last season, Texas A&M edged out Florida by one point for the regular-season title (28-27) and completed their second consecutive SEC Double with a 1-0 win over Kentucky in the tournament title match.
LAST TIME OUT – NORTH TEXAS
Karlie Mueller scored her first career goal in the 109th minute of play to score a 2-1 win over the North Texas Mean Green. Mueller took a free kick from 35 yards out to the left of the arc, and a Ally Watt run into the six-yard box froze the North Texas goalkeeper allowing Mueller’s shot to take one bounce before hitting the right side netting. The Aggies battled through six yellow cards by North Texas. After the Mean Green drew first blood in the 46th minute the Aggies spent the next 25 minutes trying to net an equalizer. The tying score came in the 71st minute with the play initiated with another Mueller free kick. Mueller sent a worm burner in from just outside the penalty box. McKayla Paulson got a shot off while being shoved to the ground. Paulson’s shot was saved, but the carom came to Janae Cousineau who sent it home.
SERIES VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
The Aggies are 5-0-1 all-time against South Carolina, including 4-0-1 since joining the SEC in 2012. Four of the Aggies wins have been by one goal. Three of the meeting have happened at the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama, with the Aggies winning all three, including a 1-0 overtime win in the 2012 first round, 2-1 win in the 2013 semifinal and a 1-0 win in the 2014 semifinal on a goal by Bianca Brinson in the 86th minute. During the 2014 regular-season, the teams played to a 2-2 draw through 110 minutes.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
The Gamecocks enter the fray with an 8-1-0 mark, riding a six-match win streak. South Carolina started 2-0-0 in SEC play with road wins at Georgia (3-1) and Missouri (1-0). The Gamecocks also have non-conference wins against Northeastern (4-1), Oklahoma (2-1 – 2ot), Coastal Carolina (3-2), Colgate (2-0), Charlotte (4-1) and Kennesaw State (6-0).
South Carolina is outscoring opponents, 26-8. Savannah McCaskill leads the attack with 17 points on seven goals and three assists. Sophie Groff has 12 points on five goals and two assists. Chelsea Drennan has added one goal and five assists and Raina Johnson has one goal and four assists. Two goalkeepers have split time between the woodwork. Caroline Kelly has played 465 minutes, notching a 0.77 goals against average, nine saves, a 5-1-0 record and one shutout. Abby Crider has played 360 minutes, registering a 1.00 goals-against average, five saves, a 3-0-0 record and one shutout.
South Carolina made a run to the NCAA Championship Elite Eight last season before bowing out to eventual national champion Florida State (5-0). The Gamecocks advanced to the Sweet 16 without registering a goal in game action, notching a 4-3 PK advance against Clemson and a 2-1 PK advance against Seattle. In the Sweet 16, the Gamecocks stunned No. 6 North Carolina, 1-0.
The Gamecocks own one SEC Tournament title (2009) and one SEC regular-season crown (2011). South Carolina has made eight NCAA Championship appearances.
SUCCESSFUL SENIORS
Janae Cousineau, Kristi Leonard and Karlie Mueller represent one of the winningest active senior classes in the nation. The trio have enjoyed a record of 68-14-5 over their four years, the third-best win total in the nation. Florida State’s seniors are 73-8-5, followed by Virginia 71-9-4.
RETURNING OFFENSE
The Aggies return just seven of 71 goals (9.9 percent) from last season. Janae Cousineau accounts for six of the returning goals and Haley Pounds notched one goal in 2014. A&M returns 14 of 60 assists from 2014. Karlie Mueller had the highest total among the returnees with five. Cousineau, Pounds, McKayla Paulson and Mikaela Harvey each notched two assists in 2014. Cousineau’s 14 points last season is the most among the returnees.
Texas A&M’s 11 returnees combined for just seven goals and 14 assists (28 points) during the 2014 campaign. Through 10 games, the same 11 returnees have already notched 18 goals and 12 assists (48 points).
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Aggies welcomed nine freshmen to the squad this season and they’ve made the immediate impact that was necessary for a strong start to the season. Emily Bates leads the squad with nine starts and Kate Hajdu has eight starts. Ally Watt has six starts and Brittany Crabtree has received the starting assignment on five occasions.Mia Hummel, Amethyst Kelly, Claudette Lassandro, Kendall Ritchie and Margaret Schmidt have all seen relief action.
Hajdu was named the SEC Freshman of the Week the opening weekend and Bates earned the honor for the fourth week of action. Bates ranks second on the team with 11 points on three goals and five assists. Hajdu has three goals and two assists. Crabtree has one goal and one assist and Lassandro has one goal on the season.
SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORES
After getting a year of seasoning under the auspices of last year’s nine-player senior class, Texas A&M’s four sophomores came out like gang busters in the first eight games of the season. The quartet accounted for 13 goals and six assists for 32 points through the first four weekends. Haley Pounds has produced 18 points with seven goals and four assists, including her first career hat trick against Abilene Christian. She was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week the opening week when she logged one goal and four assists. After going without a goal in her first 22 career matches, Mikaela Harvey has scored a goal in four of the last nine contests.McKayla Paulson notched the first two goals of her career, both in the win at Rice, and added an assist against UC Irvine and North Texas. Stephanie Malherbe logged her first career goal in the 2-1 win against then No. 10 Florida and has added two assists. The four sophomores all played at least 800 of the 919 minutes on the season with Paulson playing every second of the matches.
FILLING THE HOLE IN GOAL
With the exit of Jordan Day and Renee McDermott, the Aggies lost all but 31 of their goalkeeper minutes from the last four seasons. Day and McDermott played every minute of 2012 and 2013. In 2011, Megan Majewski played 17 minutes in goal. Last season, Taylor Saucier played 14 minutes in Texas A&M’s NCAA Championship first round win against Houston Baptist, for the only action in her career entering the 2015 campaign.
On the season, the Aggie goalkeepers have combined to register a 0.88 goals-against average and four shutouts. Saucier has started all 100 contests, logging 830 minutes. She owns a 0.98 goals-against average, 28 saves and two shutouts. Saucier’s goals-against average when PKs are taken out of the equation, stands at 0.76.Mia Hummel has seen action in three matches, playing 89 minutes off the bench. She has yet to yield a goal making four saves. The pair combined to record shutouts against Northwestern State and UC Irvine.
MUELLER AMONG ACTIVE LEADERS IN GAMES PLAYED
Texas A&M senior Karlie Mueller ranks 10th in the nation and second among SEC players in career matches played with 78 caps. She trails on Florida’s Christen Westphal (79) among SEC players. Mueller has made 66 career starts and owns 16 career assists, including 10 as a sophomore in 2013. Her first career goal came in her 6,047th minute of play, scoring a golden goal in the 109th minute of a 2-1 victory against North Texas.
PAULSON EARNS EARLY IRONMAN HONORS
Defender McKayla Paulson leads the Aggies in minutes played, working the entirety of the first 10 matches for 919 minutes of play. Grace Wright (900), Haley Pounds (854), Ashlynn Harryman (843), Mikaela Harvey (836),Taylor Saucier (830) and Karlie Mueller (820) are all averaging over 80 minutes per match.
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UP NEXT
The Aggies return home for a match against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Ellis Field on October 2.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics