March 24, 2006
The Texas A&M Soccer team has a busy weekend planned. The Aggies will host their annual awards banquet at the Zone Club in Kyle Field on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Then on Sunday, the defending Big 12 soccer champions will host their 11th Annual Texas A&M 7v7 Tournament, which includes an Alumni Game, and a full sided game against Rice University.
?This is going to be a fun weekend for our fans, coaches, players and former players,? commented A&M head coach G Guerrieri. ?By including our Alumni game into our 7v7 Tournament, and playing that tournament on the day after our Awards Banquet brings together some of the really fun elements of our non-traditional season. We get the opportunity to celebrate our program?â„¢s continued success, play some games against quality outside competition and we have a lot of fun.?
The Soccer Awards Banquet is an annual event which celebrates the accomplishments of the past year in Aggie soccer. Each year the team presents special awards to select members. This year?â„¢s banquet will provide an opportunity to look back over another great year where the Aggies repeated as Big 12 Regular Season and Tournament Champions, advanced to their seventh NCAA Sweet Sixteen, and finished the year ranked in the national Top-Ten.
Some of the awards to be presented for academic and athletic accomplishments include the team?â„¢s offensive, midfield, and defensive MVPs, the leader in goals and assists, as well as special awards honoring ?Perseverance?, ?the 12th Man?, ?Aggie Spirit?, the ?Iron Aggie? and the ?Newcomer of the Year.? More than 200 tickets have already been sold for the event, but more space is available. Tickets can be reserved through the Aggie soccer office at 979-458-3884.
Saturday?â„¢s 7v7 tournament consists of 10 teams playing on three different fields, one on the South Side and one on the North Side of the Aggie Soccer Stadium and another on the infield of the Anderson Track & Field Complex (adjacent to the soccer stadium). Games will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run through 1:30pm.
?Playing and training 7-on-7 provides a great teaching and evaluation opportunity for us,? stated Guerrieri. ?Because the number of players on the field is reduced, the number of touches and reps around the ball are increased for each player. So, not only is it a fun experience for our players, but it gives the coaches a lot of teaching opportunities throughout the day. Plus this year, in addition to the 7v7 games our current players will be competing in, we?â„¢re also excited to welcome back many of our former great players for the Texas A&M Alumni game. This is a great chance for us to catch-up with some of the great players who worked so hard to put Texas A&M soccer on the national map, and have a lot of fun throughout the day. We?â„¢re all looking forward to seeing them back on campus.?
The Texas A&M Alumni Game will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will be played in the same 7v7 fashion as the other games. The list of former players back in Aggieland include: Allison Buckley 93-96, Kristen Ballard (Koop) 93-96, Amanda Malburg 93-95, Yvette Bryant (Okler) 93-96, Bryn Rupe (Blalack) 94-97, Sonia Ibanez 94-97, Jessica Mouske 94-97, Emily Rozypal (Elias) 95-98, Rebecca Ratkowski (Stewart) 95-98, Amber Childers 98-01, Jessica Martin 99-02, Juli Goin 00-02, Nicky Adams (Thrasher) 97-01, Amanda Burke 01-04, as well as the senior class of 2006 (Kati Jo Spisak, Janelle Green, Carrie Berend, Becky Olson, Emily DeWoody, and Laura Probst).
The current Aggies will play their first match on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. against the University of North Texas. The second 7v7 game for A&M will be at 12:30 p.m. against Stephen F. Austin. And then at 4:00 p.m. the Aggies will switch gears and compete in a full 11v11 game against Rice.
?I always look forward to playing these games, and this year should be a very good event,? Guerrieri continued. ?SFA, UNT and Rice are each widely respected as the top teams in their respective conferences (Southland, Sunbelt, and Conference USA), so these games provide our players valuable experiences against other NCAA Tournament caliber teams.?
The Aggies are currently 5-0 in spring play including an exciting 2-1 victory over the United States Under-20 National Team on March 8th.