COLLEGE STATION, Texas – As has become a custom, the SEC regular-season title will come down to the final day with Texas A&M's 7 pm match against the Georgia Bulldogs at Ellis Field on Thursday playing a pivotal role in deciding the titleholders.
The Aggies enter the regular-season finale with a one-point lead over Florida in the SEC standings. Florida hosts Vanderbilt in a 6 pm contest on Thursday.
If Florida loses, the Aggies would win an outright SEC regular-season title regardless of the outcome of their match. If Florida ties, the Aggies would win an outright title with a win or a tie and A&M would share the title with a loss. If Florida wins, the Aggies need a win to capture an outright title and an A&M loss or tie would give the Gators an outright title. If the squads are tied for first place, Florida would receive the No. 1 seed at the SEC Tournament due to their win in the face-to-face matchup.
WINNING
The Aggies are guaranteed they will finish the season with a winning record. A&M has finished with a winning record in all of its previous 21 seasons. The closest the Aggies have finished to the .500 mark is the 14-8 (.636) record they posted in 1998.
CONFERENCE WINNING
The Aggies are guaranteed they will finish the conference slate with a winning record. A&M has finished with a winning record in league play in all 18 of the previous years it was aligned with a conference. The closest the Aggies have finished to the .500 mark in league play is the 5-3-2 (.600) record they posted in Big 12 play in 2003. In 18 previous seasons of league action, A&M has finished first or second in the conference standings on 16 occasions with the other finishes coming in 1998 (3rd Big 12 - 7-2) and 2003 (5th Big 12 - 5-3-2).
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live stats for Thursday's matches will be on 12thMan.com. The match will also have video streaming available to SEC Network subscribers via SEC Network Plus as part of the WatchESPN app and ESPN3.com. The match will be aired on RadioAggieland and 12thMan.com.
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WHERE ARE THE AGGIES RANKED?
In week 10, A&M is ranked No. 7 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire poll, down one spot from a week ago. The Aggies are No. 9 in the Soccer America Top 25, No. 6 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 25 and No. 8 in the BennettRank poll.
LAST TIME OUT - SOUTH CAROLINA
The Aggies were one minute away from securing a share of the SEC regular-season title, but South Carolina's Stevi Parker found the back of the net with a low driving shot from 20 yards to tie the match at 2-2 in the beginning of the 90th minute. Neither team was able to score in overtime and the match ended in a draw. A&M got goals from Janae Cousineau in the 44th minute to tie the game at 1-1 and a go-ahead goal 13 seconds into the second half by Kelley Monogue.
AGGIES NOTCH THEIR 200th WIN AT ELLIS FIELD
With their 2-1 win over Kentucky, the Aggies notched their 200th win at Ellis Field. Texas A&M owns a 201-30-6 (.861) 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 101-14-6 (.860) mark on the friendly pitch. Texas A&M is 208-30-6 (.865) all-time in College Station, going 7-0-0 in their one season at Old Tiger Field.
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.
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.
MONOGUE CLIMBING THE CAREER POINTS LIST
Kelley Monogue currently ranks fifth on the Aggies' career points list with 113. Against LSU, Monogue scored a goal to pass Kristen Strutz (104 - 2000-03) for fifth place on the list. She has a bit of work to do to catch Nicky Thrasher (140 - 1997-2001) for fourth 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 46 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.
GROOM AND KUNZ CLIMBING THE CAREER GOALS LIST
Shea Groom and Annie Kunz enter play with 37 career goals apiece, tied with Heather Ragsdale for seventh place on A&M's all-time list. The next target on the list for the duo is Melissa Garey (2004-07) in sixth place with 39 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. Groom was limited by injury in her freshman campaign, with six goals in just 10 matches and added five as a sophomore, but she's come on strong the last two seasons with 14 goals in 2013 and eight this year.
SERIES VS. GEORGIA
The Aggies are 2-0-0 all-time against the Bulldogs with both matches coming since A&M joined the SEC in 2012.
Both wins were narrow for the Aggies, winning a home match, in overtime, 1-0, in 2012 and posting a 2-1 win in Athens last season. Last year, Allie Bailey and Liz Keester took turn assisting the others scoring a goal with Keester scoring in the sixth minute and Bailey notching a goal in the 64th minute.
SCOUTING GEORGIA
Georgia enters Friday's match with a 10-5-1 overall mark and sit in fifth place in the SEC with a 5-4-1 mark. The Bulldogs started the season 9-2-0, but Georgia has lost three of their last four matches, getting shutout in all three losses.
The Bulldogs non-conference wins came against UNC Greensboro (3-0), Cal State Fullerton (2-1 - ot), Houston (4-0), UCF (1-0) and Furman (4-0) and the loss came against Long Beach State (3-2). Georgia's SEC wins came against Vanderbilt (3-1), South Carolina (1-0), Tennessee (2-1), Mississippi State (3-1) and LSU (2-0) with a draw against Ole Miss (1-1) and losses to Missouri (2-0), Alabama (2-0) and Kentucky (2-0).
Georgia has four players with double digits in the points column. Gabby Seiler leads the team with 26 points on nine goals and eight assists. Rachel Garcia has 14 points with four goals and six assists. Marion Crowder has tallied 13 with six goals and one assist. Kelsey Killean has 11 points with three goals and five assists.
Georgia has eight NCAA Tournament appearances, including three in the last six seasons. There best showing came in 1998 when the Bulldogs advanced to the Sweet 16.
GUERRIERI RANKS AMONG THE NATION'S WINNINGEST COACHES
Texas A&M head coach G Guerrieri ranks among the leaders in winning percentage and victories among active Division I coaches. With a career record of 386-120-29 (.749), he ranks fifth in victories and sixth in winning percentage (minimum five years as a Division I head coach). Guerrieri ranks sixth all-time among NCAA Division I coaches in victories, trailing North Carolina's Anson Dorrance (775), Connecticut's Len Tsantiris (521), Florida's Becky Burleigh (430), Santa Clara's Jerry Smith (420) and Randy Waldrum (400), who left Notre Dame in the off-season to become head coach of the Houston Dash of the NWSL.
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.
NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last two years the Aggies have fared well in tightly contest matches, going 16-4-4 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), Florida Gulf Coast (2-1), Ole Miss (2-1), Kentucky (2-1) and Arkansas (2-1), but played Arizona (2-2) and South Carolina (2-2) to draws and suffered a 2-1 defeat at Arizona State and 1-0 loss to Florida.
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.
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 76 starts.
HIGH-SCORING TRIO
The Aggies roster boasts three of the 23 active players with 85 or more career points. Kelley Monogue ranks sixth among all active players with 113 points. Shea Groom ranks 16th with 95 points. Annie Kunz reports in at 22nd with 88 points. The only other squad with multiple players on the list is Virginia with Makenzy Doniak in 10th with 106 points and Morgan Brian in 11th with 104 points.
MAKING ELLIS FIELD A FORTRESS
Last Friday, the Aggies had their 15-match home win streak snapped. The 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.
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 9/18/2014 - 15
* - 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 14 active players in terms of matches played. Allie Bailey and Meghan Streight enter the weekend tied for fourth among all active players with 92 matches. Kelley Monogue is in seventh place with 91 matches under her belt. Leigh Edwards is tied with Florida's Annie Speese for ninth place with 90 matches. Annie Kunz and Bianca Brinson are tied for 11th place with 88 matches.
Active Leaders, Matches Played
1. Kristin Grubka, Florida State - 95
2. Jamia Fields, Florida State - 94
Whitney Church, Penn State - 94
4. Allie Bailey, Texas A&M - 92
Meghan Streight, Texas A&M - 92
Emily Hurd, Penn State - 92
7. Kelley Monogue, Texas A&M - 91
Danielle Colaprico, Virginia - 91
9. Leigh Edwards, Texas A&M - 90
Annie Speese, Florida - 90
11. Bianca Brinson, Texas A&M - 88
Annie Kunz, Texas A&M - 88
Jen Martin, UCF - 88
Kori Chapic, Penn State - 88
MONOGUE AMONG TOP ACTIVE PLAYERS IN GOALS SCORED
Kelley Monogue enters the week ranked eighth among all active players in goals scored with 48. Illinois State's Rachel Tejada leads the nation with 67, followed by Winthrop's Krystyna Freda with 61 and LaSalle's Kelsey Haycook with 55.
NATIONAL TEAM TRAINING
Shea Groom was one of 24 players who participated in a U.S. Soccer Under-23 Women's National Team training camp in Seattle from July 15-22. Head coach Steve Swanson's entire roster for the training camp was made up of current collegiate players or players who played their senior seasons last fall. Groom was one of 20 players selected to make a trek to La Manga, Spain to play three international matches at the Six Nations Tournament in March, but missed the tournament due to injury. She was also one of 24 players who attended a week-long U.S. Under-23 Women's National Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California in May 2013.
Karlie Mueller and Mikaela Harvey had training sessions with U.S. Soccer Women's National Teams in May. Mueller trained with the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team in Chula Vista at an eight-day camp. It was the last camp before the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada. Mueller was not selected for the team which was dispatched in the quarterfinals by North Korea. In 2013, Mueller was called up for three stints with the U-20 National Team, becoming the first player from South Dakota to earn a cap with a U.S. Women's National Team. Harvey also went to Chula Vista to train with the U18 squad. The camp included 24 players who will form the core of the team that will attempt to qualify for the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in South Africa beginning in 2015.
SHE'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT
Bianca “B.B.” Brinson has a pair of last minute goals this season that have altered the results of Aggie games. In A&M's 2-2 tie against Arizona, Brinson scored her second goal of the match with 33 seconds remaining as the Maroon and White staved off defeat. In the Aggies' home match against Kentucky, Brinson tallied a goal with 52 second remaining to send A&M to a 2-1 victory.
RPI NOTES
The Aggies enter the weekend with a No. 4 ranking in the RPI released by the NCAA on October 27. Seventeen of A&M's 18 opponents are in the top 120, including 15 in the Top 100 and nine in the Top 50. The Aggies are 11-2-2 against RPI Top 100 squads and 5-2-2 against RPI Top 50. Texas A&M, Penn State, UCLA and Florida State are the only four teams with 11 wins against RPI Top 100 squads.
IRISH EYES ARE SMILING
Sophomore Grace Wright spent the summer helping the Republic of Ireland Under-19 National Team make a historic run. Ireland had never played in the previous 16 European U-19 Championship Final Tournaments played since 1998 (U-18 from 1998-2001). Wright played all 360 minutes for Ireland as they went 3-0 in pool play to advance to the semifinal where they were topped by the Netherlands. The run included wins over Sweden (2-1), Spain (1-0) and England (2-1). For her career, Wright has made 14 appearances for the national team, including two matches with the Ireland U-17 squad in qualifying for the 2012 UEFA European Championship and 12 matches with the U-19 team.
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.
Largest Crowds - non-NCAA Tournament matches
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
AGED ARSENAL
109 of the Aggies' 135 points and 40 of the 47 goals this season have been scored by seniors. Shea Groom (12), Kelley Monogue (11), Bianca Brinson (6), Annie Kunz (5), Allie Bailey (4), Leigh Edwards (1), and Meghan Streight (1) account for the 40 senior goals. Janae Cousineau (6) and Haley Pounds (1) have accounted for the seven goals not scored by seniors.
SET PIECE SUCCESS
Sixteen of the Aggies' 47 goals this season have come on set pieces, including eight corner kicks, six free kicks, one throw-in and one penalty kick. A&M scored on a corner kick in each of the first four matches of the season. In their SEC opener, Shea Groom scored off a free kick and a throw-in en route to her second career hat trick.
ONE-TWO PUNCH
The Aggies boast one of the most prominent one-two scoring punches in the nation this season. Shea Groom (12) and Kelley Monogue (11) rank second and third, respectively, in the SEC in goals scored and they're tied for 28th and 39th, respectively, nationally.
Monogue (29 - 11 goals and 7 assists) and Groom (27 - 12 goals and 3 assists) rank second and third in the SEC in points and they rank 27th and 43rd nationally. A&M is the only SEC squad with two or more 20-point scorers this season and one of just two teams in the nation (East Tennessee State boasts three players with 25 or more points).
30-20 CLUB
There are 13 active NCAA Division I players with 30 or more goals and 20 or more assists and Texas A&M boasts two of them. Kelley Monogue has 46 goals and 21 assists and Shea Groom has 37 goals and 21 assists. Virginia is the only other team with multiple players in the 30-20 club (Morgan Brian 35 g, 34 a; Makenzy Doniak 42 g, 22 a).
UP NEXT
The Aggies will head to the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama. Texas A&M will open up play at the tournament as either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed on Wednesday. The Maroon and White's opponent will be between the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds.