The Aggies make their SEC Network debut and commence the league campaign on Thursday as A&M hosts the Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday evening at Ellis Field.
Texas A&M looks to win their 15th consecutive home match and a victory over the Volunteers would be the 199th win at the friendly confines of Ellis Field.
The Aggies are looking to topple at Tennessee side that has defeated A&M each of the last three seasons by identical 1-0 margins. The Volunteers are the only side the Aggies have been unable to earn a victory or draw against in their two seasons of SEC regular-season and tournament play.
Kelley Monogue is off to a blistering start on the season with 19 points on seven goals and five assists. She heads into Sunday's action need just one point to move.
TICKET INFORMATION
Season and individual tickets for the 2014 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 for both matches this weekend are on 12thMan.com. Both matches will have video streaming available to SEC Network subscribers via SEC Network+ as part of the WatchESPN app and ESPN3.com. Every match this season will feature free live audio on RadioAggieland and 12thMan.com.
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WHERE ARE THE AGGIES RANKED?
In the fourth regular-season poll, A&M is ranked No. 11 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire poll, down two spots from the preseason ranking, but up one spot from a week ago. The Aggies are No. 13 in the Soccer America Top 25, No. 6 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 25 and No. 11 in the BennettRank poll. Defending national champion UCLA claimed the top spot in all four rankings.
LAST TIME OUT - MARQUETTE
Texas A&M extended their home win streak to 14 games and completed their sweep of six matches against defending league champions in non-conference play with a 3-0 win over Marquette. Despite outshooting the Golden Eagles 14-3 in the first half, the Aggies found themselves ensnarled in a scoreless draw at the intermission. Allie Bailey fixed the situation with a goal in the 52nd minute on an assist from Kelley Monogue. With 27 minutes remaining, Leigh Edwards thumped a shot from 25-yards that was inches south of the crossbar to give A&M a 2-0 lead. Shea Groom added the final goal with a penalty kick in the 82nd minute. The Aggie backline held Marquette to just one shot-on-goal for the contest and Renee McDermott picked up her third shutout of the season.
ELLIS FIELD ADVANTAGE
Texas A&M owns a 198-29-5 (.864) all-time record at Ellis Field (formerly Aggie Soccer Stadium). The Maroon and White have called the field home since the 1994 season, playing the inaugural 1993 season at Old Tiger Field. Since 2005, the Aggies have registered a 98-13-5 (.866) mark on the friendly pitch.
AGGIES NOTCH THEIR 200th WIN IN BRAZOS VALLEY
The Aggies have been dominant in the Brazos Valley. Texas A&M owns a 205-29-5 (.868) all-time record in College Station. The win tally includes a 198-29-5 (.864) mark at Ellis Field from 1994-2013 and a 7-0 mark at Old Tiger Field in 1993. The Maroon and White are 98-13-5 (.866) at home since 2005.
AGGIES LOOK TO EXTEND 15-WIN SEASON STRETCH TO 11 YEARS
With their 18-5-2 mark last season, the Aggies posted their 10th consecutive 15-win season dating back to 2004. In their first 21 seasons, the only two years the Aggies have not reached the 15-win plateau are 1998 (14-8) and 2003 (13-6-3). The school record for victories stands at 20, set in 2002 with a 20-5-1 mark.
2013 SEC TOURNAMENT RUN
The Aggies captured the 2013 SEC Tournament crown with three one-goal wins. A&M won its quarterfinal match with a 1-0 win over Auburn with Allie Bailey scoring the lone goal. In the semifinal, Liz Keester scored two goals in the first 12 minutes and the Aggies held off No. 9 South Carolina for a 2-1 win. In the championship, the Maroon and White trailed No. 5 Florida 1-0 at halftime, but Shea Groom tied the match in the 56th minute and Keester scored a golazo with 6:58 remaining to secure the win.
NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last two years the Aggies have fared well in tightly contest matches, going 13-3-3 in matches decided by one goal or less. This season, A&M has posted one-goal wins over Dayton (4-3), Stephen F. Austin (1-0) and Florida Gulf Coast (2-1), but played Arizona to a 2-2 draw and suffered a 2-1 defeat at Arizona State.
In 2013, Texas A&M played 14 matches decided by one goal or less, posting a 10-2-2 record in those contests. Nine of the Aggies' last 10 wins were decided by one goal, including three victories at the SEC Tournament and their NCAA Championship first round win against Utah. A&M's only blemishes in close matches were 1-0 losses against Duke and Tennessee and a 0-0 draw against Baylor. The Aggies also played to a 2-2 draw against Texas Tech in the NCAA Championship second round, but advanced to the third round on penalty kicks.
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The non-conference slate was one of the toughest on record for the Aggies. All eight opponents finished in the Top 100 in the final RPI last season, with Arizona being the lowest rated team at 83. Marquette (6), UCF (13), Stephen F Austin (51), Arizona State (60), Illinois State (66), Florida Gulf Coast (67), Dayton (70) and Arizona finished last season with an average RPI of 52 compared to last year's eight non-conference opponents owning an average RPI of 101.
FACING CHAMPIONS
Texas A&M's non-conference schedule was challenging with six of the eight opponents having won their league's regular-season title in 2013. The Aggies went 6-0 against the champions, outscoring the crop, 17-5. The defending league champions on the non-conference slate included Dayton (Atlantic 10), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), UCF (The American), Illinois State (Missouri Valley), FGCU (Atlantic Sun) and Marquette (Big East). All six teams were selected to repeat as 2014 champions in their league's respective preseason coaches' polls. The two non-conference opponents who did not win conference titles last year are Arizona and Arizona State, who both finished in the middle of the powerhouse Pac 12 Conference that produced national champion UCLA.
MONOGUE CLIMBING THE CAREER POINTS LIST
Kelley Monogue currently ranks sixth on the Aggies' career points list with 103. Monogue is one point shy of Kristen Strutz (2000-03) for fifth place on the list. Ashlee Pistorius (2004-07) owns the school record with 194 points followed by Bryn Blalack (1994-197) with 192. During her healthiest campaign, Monogue logged 47 points as a freshman in 2011. Recovering from a knee injury in 2012, the McKinney, Texas native logged 20 points. Last season, she registered 17 points as she still felt the effects of the earlier ailment.
MONOGUE CLIMBING THE CAREER GOALS LIST
With her goal against Illinois State, Kelley Monogue became the fifth player in school history to log 40 career goals. She is now up to 42 goals at Texas A&M. The McKinney native trails only Ashlee Pistorius (81 - 2004-07), Bryn Blalack (79 - 1994-97), Nicky Thrasher (57 - 1997-2001) and Kristen Koop (55 - 1993-96). Monogue was A&M's leading goal scorer as a freshman with 19 tallies in 2011. She added 10 in 2012 and six in 2013.
KUNZ CLIMBING THE CAREER GOALS LIST
Annie Kunz enters play with 32 career goals, tied with Yvette Okler (1993-96) for ninth place on the A&M all-time list. The next target on the list is Kristen Strutz (2000-03) who ranks eighth with 34 goals. Heather Ragsdale (1999-2002) is also within striking distance in seventh place with 37 goals. Kunz tallied 14 goals as a freshman and 13 as a sophomore. Hampered by an injury that held her out of four games and limited her to a reserve role most of the 2013 campaign, Kunz managed just five goals in 2013.
SERIES VS. TENNESSEE
Tennessee has been a thorn in the Aggies' side. The Volunteers own a 3-0-0 advantage in the all-time series with the three wins coming the last three years. All three Volunteers' victories have been by 1-0 scores. In 2011, Julie Eckel made six saves for the Volunteers. Eckel made 11 saves in 2012 to secure the shutout in College Station and Hannah Wilkinson accounted for the only goal. Last season, Carolina Brown scored the only goal in a 1-0 win in Knoxville.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE
The Volunteers enter Thursday's match with a 4-3-0 record on the year. The season started out in the Badger State with a 5-0 win over Milwaukee and a 2-1 overtime loss at Wisconsin. In their home debut, the Aggies lost 1-0 against then-No. 23 BYU. Shutout wins against Western Kentucky (2-0) and Tulsa (1-0) got Tennessee over .500 and they split a pair of matches at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic last week, losing then-No. 2 Virginia (2-1) and toppling Richmond (3-1).
Hannah Wilkinson, a 2012 All-American, has accounted for four of Tennessee's 13 goals and Anna McClung and Amy Neal have added two apiece. UNC Greensboro transfer Jamie Simmons has played all 631 minutes in goal, recording three shutouts and a 0.86 goals-against average.
Tennessee began its soccer program in 1996 and the Volunteers boast a .648 winning percentage in SEC action. Tennessee won SEC regular-season titles in 2003, '04 and '05. The Volunteers also have four SEC Tournament crowns with the most recent coming in 2008. Tennessee has ten NCAA Championship appearances, including their most recent bids in 2011 and '12. The Volunteers made five runs to the Sweet 16 from 2002-2007.
GUERRIERI RANKS AMONG THE NATION'S WINNINGEST COACHES
Texas A&M head coach G Guerrieri ranks among the top five in both winning percentage and victories among active Division I coaches. With a career record of 378-119-28 (.747), he ranks fifth in winning percentage (minimum five years as a Division I head coach) and victories, passing James Madison's David Lombardo (375) and William & Mary's John Daly (373) last season. Guerrieri ranks sixth all-time among NCAA Division I coaches in victories, trailing North Carolina's Anson Dorrance (768), Connecticut's Len Tsantiris (517), Florida's Becky Burleigh (424), Santa Clara's Jerry Smith (414) and Randy Waldrum (400), who left Notre Dame in the off-season to become head coach of the Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League.
SENSATIONAL SENIORS
The Aggies sport one of the most impactful senior classes to ever grace a collegiate soccer field with Allie Bailey, Bianca Brinson, Jordan Day, Leigh Edwards, Shea Groom, Annie Kunz, Renee McDermott, Kelley Monogue and Meghan Streight. Texas A&M's nine seniors account for 405 of the possible 814 starts over the last three seasons, a rate of 49.8 percent. The tally includes 90 of 264 starts (.341) in their freshman campaign of 2011, 138 of 275 starts (.502) in 2012 and 177 of 275 starts (.643) in 2013.
The corps of seven field players has served to deliver a bulk of the payload the last four seasons, accounting for 135 of the 185 goals (.730). This season, the seniors have scored all five goals. As freshmen they scored 52 of A&M's 76 goals (.684) and accounted for 37 of 48 (.771) in 2012 and 41 of 56 (.732) in 2013. The class has registered 84 of the Aggies' 184 assists (.457), with the most impactful year coming last season with 29 of 48 assists (.604). The point tally for their career stands at 354 of the Maroon and White's 554 (.639).
Day and McDermott have combined to play all but 17 minutes in goal the last four seasons, accounting for all 82 starts.
THREE THIRTY-GOAL SCORERS
For the first time since the end of the 1996 campaign, the Aggies are fielding three players with 30 or more career goals. Kelley Monogue leads the triumvirate with 42 goals. Annie Kunz has 32 goals and Shea Groom joined the trio with her 30th in the Aggies' 3-0 win against Marquette on September 14.
HIGH-SCORING TRIO
The Aggies roster boasts three of the 23 active players with 75 or more career points. Kelley Monogue ranks fifth among all active players with 103 points. Shea Groom ranks 16th with 80 points. Annie Kunz reports in at 21st with 76 points. The only other squad with multiple players on the list is Virginia with Morgan Brian in eighth with 97 points and Makenzy Doniak in 15th with 84 points.
MAKING ELLIS FIELD A FORTRESS
The Aggies enter Thursday's contest with a 14-match home win streak. The current streak ranks fifth in A&M history for home win streaks and fourth among win streaks at Ellis Field. The team record stands at 24 in a span that crept into three campaigns, starting on October 26, 2001 and finishing on October 17, 2003.Â
                  A&M Home Win Streaks
            1.  10/26/2001 to 10/17/2003         24
            2.  9/26/2006 to 11/15/2007           20
            3.  9/18/1995 to 11/3/1996             17
            4.  10/2/1993 to 9/3/1995*             16
            5.  9/13/2013 to current                 14
                  * - first seven matches played at Old Tiger Stadium
THE NCAA'S MOST EXPERIENCED SQUAD
The Aggies boast one of the most experienced squad in the nation for 2014. Currently, Texas A&M has six of the top 12 active players in terms of games played. Allie Bailey and Meghan Streight enter the weekend tied for fourth among all active players with 82 matches. Kelley Monogue is tied with two others for sixth place with 81 matches under her belt. Leigh Edwards is tied with Florida's Annie Speese for ninth place with 80 matches. Annie Kunz and Bianca Brinson are tied for 11th place with 78 matches.
MONOGUE AMONG TOP ACTIVE PLAYERS IN GOALS SCORED
Kelley Monogue enters the weekend ranked fifth among all active players in goals scored with 42. Illinois State's Rachel Tejada leads the nation with 59, followed by Winthrop's Krystyna Freda with 54 and LaSalle's Kelsey Haycook with 44. Stephen F. Austin's Chelsea Raymond ranks fourth with 43 goals after one each in the Lumberjacks matches last weekend.
ATTRACTING A CROWD
The Aggies' drew a historic crowd for their 3-0 win over #18 UCF on August 29. The crowd of 5,634 was the ninth-largest for an NCAA women's soccer regular-season match. Four of the top nine and seven of the top 18 regular-season crowds have occurred at Ellis Field.
                  Active Leaders, Goals Scored
            1.  USC vs UCLA, Los Angeles (10/22/10) - 8,527
            2.  North Carolina at Texas A&M (8/25/06) - 8,204
            3.  USC vs UCLA, Los Angeles (10/25/08) - 7,804
            4.  Rhode Island at Texas A&M (8/22/08) - 6,712
            5.  North Carolina at Navy (9/26/03) - 6,527
            6.  Syracuse at Connecticut (9/26/99) - 6,070*
            7.  Notre Dame at North Carolina (9/13/98) - 6,024
            8.  North Carolina at Texas A&M (8/29/08) - 5,642
            9.  UCF at Texas A&M (8/29/14) - 5,634
          10.  North Carolina at Portland (10/10/92) - 5,596
                  * - part of doubleheader with men's squad
SET PIECE SUCCESS
Seven of the Aggies' 20 goals this season have come on set pieces, including four corner kicks, two free kicks and one penalty kick. A&M scored on a corner kick in each of the first four matches of the season.
AGED ARSENAL
Fifty of the Aggies' 57 points and 19 of the 20 goals this season have been scored by seniors. Kelley Monogue (7), Shea Groom (5), Bianca Brinson (3), Allie Bailey (2), Leigh Edwards (1) and Meghan Streight (1) account for the 19 senior goals.
UP NEXT
The Aggies have a seven-day hiatus before resuming their SEC slate on Friday, September 26 with a match at LSU.