Oct. 1, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 15 Texas A&M soccer team welcomes No. 19 Kansas and Missouri to the Aggie Soccer Stadium for its Big 12 home opening weekend. The Aggies face the Jayhawks on Friday at 7 p.m. before Missouri comes to town Sunday for a 4 p.m. match that is televised nationally on ESPNU.
The Aggies (6-4, 1-1 Big 12) split their first two Big 12 matches on the road last weekend, shutting out Baylor, 1-0, before the Sooners held off A&M, 3-2. In her first career start, sophomore Becca Herrera contributes a team-high four assists. The Aggies average 21.7 shots and 2.00 goals per game, while holding their opponents to 7.7 shots and 1.10 goals per match.
Kansas (8-2-1, 1-1 Big 12) also split its matches last weekend, being shutout 3-0 its first conference match against Oklahoma State, before coming back with a 5-3 win at Oral Roberts. The KU offense that produces 17.0 shots and 2.36 goals per game is led by Emily Cressy (6G, 2A) and Monica Dolinsky (4G, 6A) with 14 points each. Shelby Williamson has also scored four goals. The Jayhawks are limiting their opponent to 12.5 shots and 1.00 goals per match.
Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 10-3-1, with two of those losses coming last season. Since 2003, the two teams are 3-3-1, with four matches being one-goal games.
Fans can follow all the action of Friday's match with free live video, audio and live stats on AggieAthletics.com.
Tickets are available for purchase online at tickets.12thmanfoundation.com or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.
Parking is free and is available in the Reed Arena parking lots. For added convenience, there are now two entrances at the north end of the stadium.
PROMOTIONS
Sunday:
Elementary School Challenge - The College Station school with the most students in attendance will receive a visit from the Aggie Soccer team during its P.E. classes.
Aggies Can - FREE ADMISSION with a canned food donation. An athlete's table will be set up outside the Aggie Soccer Stadium to receive donations.
LAST TIME OUT
Texas A&M held Baylor to four shots in a 1-0 shutout on Friday. Hooper netted her third straight game-winner in the 59th minute to lead A&M to its third consecutive win and eighth victory in-a-row against the Bears. The three-match winning streak was snapped on Sunday with a 3-2 Oklahoma victory. Whitney Palmer score two early breakaway goals before Hamilton came back with two to even the score. Kelsey Kraft's game-winner came in the 61st minute and OU held on for the win despite A&M outshooting the Sooners, 32-9.
UP NEXT
After playing two games in front of the 12th Man, the Aggies travel to Oklahoma State for a 7 p.m. match in Stillwater, Okla., on Friday. A&M then returns to the Aggie Soccer Stadium Sunday for 4 p.m. game against Loyola Chicago that is televised nationally on the Fox Soccer Channel.
SCOUTING KANSAS
The Jayhawks are ranked 19th and are facing their second top 20 team this season in A&M. The team started the season on a five-game winning streak, but is 3-2-1 in their last six matches. On the road KU is 2-1-1 and has won one of six matches in College Station. Eleventh-year head coach Mark Francis is the winningest coach in Kansas soccer history with a 117-78-15 record coming into the 2009 season. Dolinsky is second on KU's career points and leads the team with Cressy, both tallying 14 points. Jayhawk goalkeepers Julie Haney and Kat Leibtrau split time in goal and average 0.98 goals against and post a .784 save percentage.
VERSUS THE JAYHAWKS
Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 10-3-1, with two of those losses coming last season. In the regular season, Kansas won 1-0 with a goal in the 29th minute from Shannon McCabe on an attempted cross. At the Big 12 Championship, the Jayhawks downed the Aggies 4-2 eliminating them from the tournament. Alyssa Mautz scored one of the goals against KU in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2003, the two teams are even at 3-3-1, with four matches being one-goal games.
SCOUTING MISSOURI
The Tigers (6-4-1, 1-0-0) were picked to finish first in the Big 12, along with A&M, and enter the weekend having played only one conference match, which was a 3-2 victory at home against Oklahoma State. Missouri won its last two and faces just its second ranked opponent in A&M after falling 5-0 to then-No. 4 UCLA on Sept. 20. Mizzou is 2-1 on the road and takes on Texas in Austin, Texas, on Friday, before traveling to College Station Sunday. The team averages 20.7 shots and 2.45 goals per game, while holding its opponent to 11.4 shots and 1.64 goals per match. In a very balanced offense, Bree Thronton leads the way with four goals and 10 points. Three Tigers (Kristin Andrighetto, Alysha Bonnick and Michelle Collins) each record eight points (3G, 2A), while Jessica Greer adds three goals. Goalkeeper Tasha Dittamore posts a 1.69 goals against average and a .710 save percentage. Bryan Blitz is in his 14th season as head coach of Missouri and enters the 2009 season with a 141-119-11 career record at MU.
VERSUS THE TIGERS
A&M holds an 11-6-1 advantage in the all-time series and since 2006, the two teams have split four matches with Mizzou winning the 2008 matchup, 3-0, in an ESPNU televised game at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. Missouri has only won one other time (2004) in College Station.
REVENGE ON THE MIND
Texas A&M suffered its only two Big 12 losses last season against the two teams it faces this weekend. The Jayhawks got the better half of the Aggies twice, including knocking them out of the Big 12 Championship, while the Tigers embarrassed A&M on national television with a 3-0 shutout. All three losses left A&M shy of taking home what would have been its fifth straight Big 12 trophy.
IN THE BIG 12
The Aggies have produced the most corner kicks of any team in the Big 12. A&M leads with 69, followed by Nebraska (68), OSU (66), Missouri (60) and Colorado (58). In conference games only, Texas A&M has the most shots with 44, that's an average of 22 shots per game. Hamilton ranks second with four points and two goals.
A&M VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
The Aggies are 2-2 against ranked opponents this season with both wins coming against the two teams that won national championships at the Aggie Soccer Stadium - USC (2007) and Portland (2005). Against top-10 opponents, A&M is 2-1, dropping its only contest to top-ranked North Carolina. Texas A&M's win over Portland was the highest ranked opponent it has defeated since downing No. 1 Texas, 2-0, in College Station on Oct. 12 2007. In addition, the Aggies' three goals are the most UP allowed since losing to UCLA on Nov. 30, 2007 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
AGGIE SOCCER ON TV
Two regular season Aggie soccer games are broadcast on television this year - Missouri on ESPNU Oct. 4 and Loyola Chicago on the Fox Soccer Channel Oct. 11. In addition, the finals of the Big 12 Championship are broadcast live on FSN.