Sept. 25, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The seventh-ranked Texas A&M soccer team has won five in a row, including a shutout of No. 16 Cal and a victory over No. 17 Wake Forest, and looks to seal its first win over a top 10 opponent this season on Friday night in Austin. The Aggies take on the No. 9 Texas Longhorns at 7 p.m. in the first game of the year in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. In its first weekend of Big 12 play, A&M soccer goes on the road Sunday to Baylor for another 7 p.m. kickoff.
The Aggies (7-1-0) earned two wins last weekend, blanking Cal and winning in Houston against Rice in a match that was televised by CBS College Sports. Sophomore Inge Harding scored the game-winning goal in the 51st minute in a 1-0 win over the Bears. It was freshman Inge Harding) each have two or more goals. Dyer has been solid between the posts with 25 saves and the second-best save percentage in the Big 12 (.833).
SCOUTING TEXAS
The ninth-ranked (NSCAA) Longhorns are off to the best start in school history with a 7-0-1 record. Texas gave up just four goals in its first eight games and played four overtimes with a 3-0-1 record. UT holds a 21-game unbeaten streak at home, the longest in program history, dating back to 2006. Starting goalkeeper, Dianna Pfenninger, posts the best save percentage in the Big 12 (.892) and has two shutouts. The Longhorn attack is led by Courtney Goodson (5 G, 2 A) and Stephanie Logterman (4 G, 2 A). Kasey Moore scored the game-winning goal against No. 16 Cal last weekend and is also dangerous on offense with three goals and three assists. UT is 128-60-15 with head coach Chris Petrucelli at the helm. A&M is the first top 10 opponent Texas faces this season.
VERSUS THE LONGHORNS
A&M is 17-5 against UT all time. In 2007, the Ags defeated Texas, 2-0, in the regular season, but Texas came back to take a 2-1 decision from A&M in the Big 12 Championship match. The Longhorns also knocked the Aggies out of postseason play with a 3-2 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In the last 10 contests, the two teams are 5-5. In addition, both teams were ranked in the top 10 in each of the last four meetings, making the rivalry one of the most heated in the nation.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
The Bears are 4-4-0 coming into the weekend, with every win they've earned coming on Sunday. Baylor opens Big 12 play with A&M and the Aggies are the first ranked opponent the Bears face all season. Andi Fagan leads Baylor with four goals and two assists. Lotto Smith adds three goals and an assist while four other players have two goals each. Seven goals have been scored on Baylor this year. Head coach Marci Jobson is in her first season at Baylor.
VERSUS THE BEARS
The Aggies hold a 9-4-1 advantage over Baylor and won the last six straight matches, dating back to 2003. Each of the previous six contests were shutouts with A&M outscoring the Bears 16-0. Last year former A&M soccer player Inge Harding scored in the 51st minute as the 8th-ranked Aggies blanked No. 16 California, 1-0, in front of 3,323 fans at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. The second-half goal and smothering defensive play helped A&M improve to 6-1-0 on the season, while Cal fell to 5-2-0 after giving up just its fifth goal of the year. Dyer recorded five saves in the shutout and Harding netted her first game-winner and second goal of the year. As a team, the Aggies tallied 11 shots, nine of which were on target.
RICE RECAP
Kmezich scored twice to lead the Aggies past Rice, 2-1, on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Houston, Texas. Kmezich scored in the 25th minute after a free kick and netted the game-winning goal with nine minutes remaining in the match to help A&M soccer move to 7-1-0. The Owls fell to 4-3-0. A&M outshot the Owls 17-5 in the contest and earned eight corner kicks to Rice's three. Eight of the Aggies shots were on frame. Dyer picked up her fifth win in goal recording six saves.
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Cydne Currie is third with two game-winning goals while Dyer boasts the second-best save percentage (.833).
BIG 12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
In four weeks of competition, Aggie soccer has had four Big 12 Players of the Week and has had two players named to the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week. Dyer was most recently chosen for the award, while Cydne Currie was honored by the league and Soccer Buzz on Sept. 9. Amber Gnatzig earned player of the week and was selected to the Elite Team on Sept. 2, while Shipley was the first Aggie to receive the league award this year on Aug. 26.
THE OFFENSIVE NUMBERS
The Ags have better numbers than their opponents in almost every offensive category. A&M almost triples its challengers in goals (25-9) and nearly doubles its foes' shots (144-84) and shots on goal (76-41).
HOME SCHEDULE
A&M's home schedule in 2008 is not over yet and will bring lots of excitement to the Aggie Soccer Stadium. The Aggies still play five Big 12 games at home, including four in a row from Oct. 3 to Oct. 12. The last regular season home match is Oct. 19 against Missouri.
THE 12TH MAN
The Aggie Soccer Stadium is averaging a crowd of 4,171 per game. With more than 6,700 attending the home opener, A&M now holds the top two spots for the highest regular season attendance in the nation. In addition, A&M soccer averages over 3,200 more fans per game than any other Big 12 school!
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
In preparing to defend its four consecutive Big 12 regular season titles, A&M faced one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules and came out on top with a 7-1-0 record. The schedule pitted the Ags against four teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2007, two of which advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen."