Aggie Soccer Hosts UTSA in Home Opener
Aug 24, 2012 | Soccer
The 12th-ranked Texas A&M soccer team opens up the home portion of the 2012 schedule with a non-conference match against the UTSA Roadrunners.
The Aggies host the Roadrunners in a 7 p.m. contest at Ellis Field. The match features live video and audio streaming on AggieAthletics.com.
A&M returns to College Station following a season-opening road trip to southern California. The Aggies registered a split on the trip with a 2-1 win at UC Irvine to open the season on Monday and a 1-0 loss at San Diego on Wednesday.
FISH CAMP MATCH
Saturday's game against the UTSA Roadrunners is the Aggies' annual Fish Camp Match. Members of the class of 2016 and Fish Camp counselors and co-chairs who wear their Fish Camp 2012 t-shirt will receive FREE admission to the match. Each year, the Fish Camp game brings in thousands of fans to one of the best college soccer atmospheres in the country.
UP NEXT
The Aggies continue their five-game home stand with a non-conference slate against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31.
TICKET INFORMATION
Season and individual tickets for the 2012 home season are now for sale. To purchase tickets, please contact the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Center at tickets.12thmanfoundation.com, 979-845-2311 or toll free at 1-888-99-AGGIE. Tickets are also available in person beginning one hour before the match at Ellis Field.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live stats, live video and live audio will be available for the match this weekend on AggieAthletics.com. Fans wanting to listen to the game from within the stadium can tune in to 88.1 FM.
FOLLOW @AGGIESOCCER ON TWITTER
Not following @AggieSoccer on Twitter? Sign up or sign in now to find out what's happening. You'll stay up-to-date on the latest news and receive live in-game updates at each and every match.
WHERE ARE THE AGGIES RANKED?
In the first week of regular season polling, A&M is ranked No. 12 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire poll, No. 8 in the Soccer Times rankings, No. 15 in the Soccer America poll and No. 10 in the CollegeSoccer360.com composite poll. Stanford claimed the top spot in the NSCAA/Continental Tire poll, followed by Duke, Florida State, Oklahoma State and UCLA.
LAST TIME OUT - SAN DIEGO
The Aggies dropped a 1-0 decision at San Diego on Wednesday. A&M outshot the Toreros 10-2, but were only able to put two shots on goal. The squads entered the intermission in a scoreless draw with the Aggies taking the only two shots of the first half. The Toreros' Emily Dillon accounted for the game's lone goal in the 79th minute of action.
AT THE TOP AGAIN
With the 2012 No. 14 preseason ranking, A&M has been in the preseason national top 15 every year for 17 consecutive seasons. The Aggies have also consistently appeared in top 25 polls for the past 16 years.
A&M IN HOME OPENERS
Since 1993, Texas A&M is 18-1 all-time in home openers. Fifteen of the Aggies prior 19 home openers also doubled as season openers with A&M going posting a 14-1 mark in those games. In the four years that the Aggies did not open the season at home (1993-94, '96 and 2001), they outscored their opponents by a combined 26-3 margin when finally debuting in College Station. In 1993, A&M did not appear at home until the eighth game of the season when the Aggies handed Oral Roberts an 11-0 defeat.
SCOUTING UTSA
The Roadrunners enter the fray with an 0-2 ledger. UTSA opened the year with a 1-0 loss at Houston Baptist last Friday, despite outshooting the Huskies 11-6. In their home opener, the Roadrunners were no match for Dayton in a 5-1 loss. The Flyers scored in the fourth minute of action and cruised to a 3-0 lead at the intermission before coasting to a 5-0 advantage. Simone Boye scored UTSA's lone goal thus far on the season in the 63rd minute.
THE SERIES
The Aggies own a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series against the Roadrunners. A&M toppled UTSA 7-0 at Aggie Soccer Stadium in 2006 and posted a 3-0 win in College Station in 2009.
2012 ROSTER
The Aggies' 23-player roster features nine upperclassmen, 10 sophomores and 4 freshmen. A&M's squad is guided by seven seniors. The team returns eight starters and 19 letterwinners from a year ago.
FRESH TALENT
The Aggies welcome four freshmen this season, in Janae Cousineau (San Clemente, Calif.), Kristi Leonard (League City, Texas), Karlie Mueller (Sioux Falls, S.D.), and Jackie Tondl (Omaha, Neb.).
MEET THE SEC
Each of the 14 schools in Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsor women's soccer. The conference is split into two divisions: Eastern and Western. The Aggies, LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Mississippi State comprise the SEC Western Division and Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt make up the SEC Eastern Division. The Aggies will play each of the other 13 schools in the conference this season, beginning with LSU on Sept. 14 in Baton Rouge, La.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONS
The Aggies won their 12th-and-final Big 12 Championship during the 2011 conference tournament. With just 15 seconds left in the Championship match, Tournament MVP and then-freshman Kelley Monogue weaved through three defenders and ricocheted a shot off of the left post that found then-senior Megan Majewski at 18 yards from goal. Majewski fired with nine seconds on the clock and netted the 1-0 goal against Oklahoma State to win the tournament. The Aggies were the only school in the conference to earn a Big 12 Tournament berth in the 16 years of its existence.
SEC PRESEASON POLL
Texas A&M, the reigning Big 12 champion, notched the second spot in the 2012 SEC Soccer Preseason Poll, after receiving 12 of the first-place votes for the SEC West and tallying 89 points overall. The Aggies were picked to win the Western Division and to finish behind Eastern Division favorite Florida, who earned 90 points in the poll. LSU received two first-place votes for the SEC West and was picked to finish second in the division, while Georgia was picked to finish second in the East.
FOUR AGGIES ON SEC PRESEASON WATCH LIST
Sophomores Kelley Monogue, Meghan Streight and Katie Perry and senior Beth West were named to the SEC Preseason Watch List on Aug. 8.
MAC HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST
Monogue was placed on the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List. The award is the highest honor in collegiate soccer and will be given to a winner on Jan. 11. The field will be narrowed to 15 semifinalists in late November, and three finalists will be named on Dec. 6.
TOP DRAWER SOCCER HONORS
The Aggies ranked No. 5 in TopDrawerSoccer.com's Preseason Rankings and placed three players on the publication's SEC Top 20 List. Monogue landed at the top of the list with a No. 1 ranking and was joined in the top 10 by No. 5 Perry and No. 9 West. The Aggies were the only team in the SEC to have three honorees on the list and one of only two schools with multiple players in the top 10.
HOME SCHEDULE
A&M will play a difficult home slate, hosting 12 opponents at Ellis Field including seven SEC foes. The Aggies' home opener against UTSA marks the start of a five-game homestand, the longest on this year's schedule.
NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
A&M faces a tough non-conference schedule. The Aggies' seven games against non-SEC opponents include UC Irvine, San Diego (RV), UTSA, Rutgers, St. Mary's (Calif.), No. 15 Long Beach State and Central Michigan.
LONE STAR DOMINANCE
Since the 2008 season, the Aggies own a 16-0-3 mark against in-state rivals, including an 11-0-3 record against their former Big 12 Conference colleagues. A&M went a perfect 3-0 against in-state foes in 2011, winning the three games by a combined 7-1 margin.
THE AGGIE SOCCER HOUR
This year the Aggie Soccer Hour, Texas A&M soccer's weekly radio talk show, is broadcast live from Rudy's Bar-B-Que on Harvey Rd. in College Station every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. Come and be a part of the show each week, listen locally on KZNE 1150 AM or worldwide on RadioAggieland.com. Each week, Aggie soccer play-by-play announcer David Ellis will be joined by head coach G Guerrieri, associate head coach Phil Stephenson, and Aggie players.
AGGIE SOCCER ON TV
The Aggie soccer team will be on the tube four times this season. The team's Sept. 7 match vs. Long Beach State will be the NSCAA College Game of the Week and will be aired on the FOX Soccer Channel. The Sept. 30 match at Mississippi State will be on Cox Sports TV, the Oct. 7 Florida game will be on ESPNU and the Missouri game on Oct. 25 will be on SportSouth/ESPN3. The CST and SportSouth matches will also be on ESPN3.com and the ESPNU match will be streamed on WatchESPN.
