Oct. 28, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
In the final match of the regular season, the sixth-ranked Texas A&M soccer team takes on No. 24 Texas Friday at 7 p.m. at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
Texas A&M (15-3, 8-1 Big 12) plays the Longhorns (11-4-3, 4-3-2 Big 12) in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. The Aggies lead the all-varsity athletics competition .5-0 after the A&M volleyball team accrued the first half-point of the season in an upset over the Longhorns. The winner of the rivalry match Friday will earn one point for their school.
The Aggies defeated Oklahoma and No. 5 Oklahoma State last weekend for at least a share of the conference title. A win for A&M Friday guarantees sole possession of the Big 12 Championship trophy.
The Longhorns upset No. 5 Oklahoma State Friday before falling to Oklahoma in double overtime Sunday. With its win over OSU, Texas cracked the top 25 in polls for the first time this season.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Gametracker and free live audio will be available for the match this weekend on AggieAthletics.com. Texas will provide free live video from the match, also available on the Aggie Athletics homepage.
FOLLOW AGGIE SOCCER ON TWITTER
Not following @AggieSoccer on Twitter? Sign up or sign in now to find out what's happening. You will stay up-to-date on the latest news and receive live in-game updates at each and every match.
ALL ABOUT A&M
The Aggies are 15-3 and are on a season-high eight-match winning streak, the longest winning streak the team has had since 2007 when A&M played 10-straight matches without a loss. Five of the last eight wins for the Aggies have been shutouts. The team averages 22 shots per game and has totaled 93 corner kicks. A&M is the only team in the Big 12 with five players recording more than 10 points individually. Senior Alyssa Mautz leads the offense with 11 goals and five assists for 27 points. Senior Rachel Shipley follows with nine goals, including the game winner vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State. Junior Bri Young tops the team standings in assists with seven. Goalkeeper Kelly Dyer heads up the Aggie defense with 48 saves, allowing just seven goals on the season and posting the conference-leading save percentage (.873). The senior is credited with the last six shutouts for the Aggies.
SCOUTING TEXAS
Texas enters the weekend ranked fifth in the Big 12, winning four of the last five matches vs. Baylor, Missouri, Iowa State and Oklahoma State. Last weekend the Longhorns hosted No. 5 Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, shutting out the Cowgirls, 1-0, before losing to the Sooners in double overtime, 1-2. The team posts 217 shots, with 121 on frame, for 28 goals on the season. Texas is ranked third in conference play in goals allowed (17) and goals against average (0.90), and sits at fourth in assists (27) and assists per game (1.50). Junior Kylie Doniak leads the team in points (19), shots (42), shots on goal (24), goals (5) and assists (9), ranking second in the league in assists and assists per game. On defense, sophomore goalkeeper Alexa Gaul leads the league in shutouts (8), sits at third in goals against average (0.90) and shutouts per game (0.44), and ranks among the top 10 in saves (66), saves per game (3.67) and save percentage (.795).
THE SERIES
Texas A&M defeated Texas twice last season and has finished ahead in the last four meetings, leading the series 19-5-1. The teams met most recently at the Big 12 Tournament last season. The Aggies finished the match ahead 5-1 and moved on to the championship round.
AGGIES IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
In addition to the 11th-best scoring offense in the nation, Texas A&M has the 12th-best won-lost-tied percentage. Individually, Mautz ranks 27th with 11 goals and 28th with total points. Dyer stands at 17th with save percentage (0.873) and ranks 26th in goals-against average (0.636).
2010 NCAA RPI
Texas A&M is ranked 9th in the most recent NCAA Women's Soccer RPI, and is the only Big 12 school in the top 10. Oklahoma State is ranked 11th, Texas is ranked 29th, Nebraska is 39th, Texas Tech is 42nd, and Oklahoma (50) is the last conference school in the top 50 RPI.
SHIPLEY EARNS THREE WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Senior Rachel Shipley was honored as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the week and a CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Player of the week, as well as being named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week this week. The midfielder scored the tying goal vs. Oklahoma Friday, pressuring the Sooners with a season-high nine shots, two on goal. She also footed the game-winning penalty kick against OSU Sunday, leading the Aggies to the Big 12 Conference title.
AGGIES TOP 10 IN THE POLLS
At No. 6 (NSCAA/HendrickCars.com) the Aggies have been a constant in the top 10 all season, starting the year ranked eighth and moving up as high as fifth. The Aggies entered the national polls during the 1995 season and have appeared in the top 25 every week since for the past 16 seasons.
STARTING LINEUPS
With a talented and deep roster, Texas A&M has used 13 different starting lineups in its first 18 games. Sixteen different players have started at least one game this season and only two players have started all 18 matches: Mautz and Balaguer.
VOTE FOR SHIPLEY
Shipley was selected as one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. From Plano, Texas, Shipley was chosen by a national media committee from the list of 30 women's soccer candidates that were announced in August. She was the only finalist selected from a Big 12 institution. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to determine the winner of the award. Fans are encouraged to vote via seniorclassaward.com through November 14. Fan votes will be combined with media and coaches votes to determine the winner.
GOALS GALORE
The Aggies scored 26 goals in their first nine games, which was the most A&M scored in its first nine games since 2001 when it totaled the same figure. Mautz is having a career season, with 11 goals and 27 points, which are already higher than her previous two season totals as an Aggie.
AGGIES IN THE BIG 12
In conference-only statistics, A&M leads the Big 12 in shots (197) goals allowed (6) and shutouts (5), ranks second in assists (17), assists per game (1.89), and goals against average (0.64), and comes in third in points (53), goals (18), and goals per game (2.00). Mautz ranks second in the league in shots (78), shots per game (4.33) and game-winning goals (5), and sits at third in points (27), points per game (1.50), goals (11) and goals per game (0.61). Junior Merritt Mathias is ranked third in shots per game (4.31) and game-winning goals (4), fourth in shots (69) and goals per game (0.56), and fifth in points (23) and points per game (1.44). On defense, Dyer leads the conference in save percentage (.873), ranks second in goals against average (0.64) and shutouts per game (0.55), and is tied for number three in the conference in shutouts (6).
AGGIE SOCCER ON TV
The final round of the Big 12 Championship will be broadcast live from San Antonio on FSN.
LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies tabbed their 11th Big 12 Championship with a pair of wins at home vs. Oklahoma and No. 5 Oklahoma State. On an assist from Senior Whitney Hooper, Shipley scored the game-tying goal against Oklahoma just 54 seconds after the Sooners netted their only goal of the match. The Aggie defense held OU to exactly half the number of shots and shots on frame posted by A&M until Mautz kicked the game-winning goal in double overtime to end the match 2-1. Against the then-conference-leading OSU, Hooper worked to pose a threat and force the Cowgirls' Melinda Mercado to take her down hard in the box for a yellow card. Shipley scored easily on the penalty kick to give the Aggies a 1-0 shutout over Oklahoma State, and at least a share of the conference title.
UP NEXT
The Aggies head to San Antonio for the Big 12 Tournament, Nov. 3-7 at Blossom Soccer Stadium. No. 1-seeded A&M will play the No. 8-seeded team in round one of the tournament at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 3. Seeds will be finalized after Friday's matches.