ORANGE BEACH, Alabama - The Texas A&M Aggies and South Carolina Gamecocks meet in an SEC Tournament semifinal match at 3:30 pm on Friday. The squads played to a 2-2 draw in College Station on Sunday, October 26, one of just two blemishes on A&M's conference ledger. The Aggies posted a 3-0 shutout against Georgia on Wednesday while South Carolina followed with a 2-1 win against Missouri.
It marks the third consecutive season that Texas A&M and South Carolina are facing off in the SEC Tournament. The Aggies won a quarterfinal match, 1-0 in overtime, in 2012 and a semifinal match, 2-1, in 2013.
The Aggies are looking to become the first SEC team to do the double in back-to-back seasons since Florida won the regular-season and tournament crowns from 1996-2001.
The Maroon and White are 5-1 all-time in the SEC Tournament, reaching the semifinal round in their first season and winning the championship in 2013.
The Aggies are looking for their seventh conference tournament title. In addition to winning their first-ever SEC Tournament crown last season, A&M won Big 12 Championship crowns in 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2011.
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
Friday's match will be televised on the SEC Network. The match will have video streaming available to SEC Network subscribers on the WatchESPN app and ESPN3.com. Live stats for the match will be on SECSports.go.com. The match airs on RadioAggieland and 12thMan.com and locally on the Zone HD.
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LAST TIME OUT - GEORGIA
The Aggies got goals from three different seniors to post a 3-0 win over the Georgia Bulldogs in SEC Tournament quarterfinal action. Bianca Brinson put A&M on the board 5:14 into the match. The Maroon and White were unable to add to the lead before halftime, but it took just 36 seconds for Annie Kunz to put the biscuit in the basket in the second half. Meghan Streight put her head on a Kelley Monogue free kick offering in the 61st minutee for an insurance goal. Jordan Day recorded her 30th career shutout with one save in the match. The A&M backline held Georgia to just five shots for the match. The Aggies improved to 5-1 all-time in SEC Tournament action and 3-0 in SEC Tournament quarterfinal action.
TOURNAMENT INTENSITY
Prior to Wednesday's 3-0 shutout against Georgia, all four of Texas A&M's SEC Tournament wins had been by one goal and the Aggies' highest goal output was two goals on two separate occasions - the 2013 semifinal against South Carolina (2-1) and the 2013 championship match against Florida (2-1). Texas A&M won the 2013 SEC Tournament with just five goals on the back of three one-goal decisions.
MONOGUE CLIMBING THE CAREER POINTS LIST
Kelley Monogue currently ranks fifth on the Aggies' career points list with 115. 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 the SEC Tournament semifinal with 38 career goals apiece, which ranks seventh on A&M's career 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. SOUTH CAROLINA
The Aggies are 5-0-0 all-time against South Carolina, including 4-0-0 since joining the SEC in 2012. Two of the meetings have happened at the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama. This season, A&M was headed to a 2-1 victory before Stevi Parker put the biscuit in the basket from 20 yards out with 1:00 minute showing on the clock.
The first-ever meeting came in September of 2003 when the Aggies posted a 2-1 overtime win against the Gamecocks.
A&M won the first-ever meeting as SEC brethren in 2012, 2-0, in College Station. Meghan Streight and Annie Kunz tallied goals and Jordan Day made one save in the shutout. The teams met in the first round of the SEC Tournament in 2012, with A&M scoring a 1-0 overtime win. Allie Bailey notched a golden goal in the 94th minute and Day made two saves in the shutout. Last season the teams faced off in the semifinal of the tournament with A&M prevailing 2-1. Liz Keester scored a pair of goals in the first 12 minutes to get out to a 2-0 lead. Raina Johnson scored for South Carolina in the 25th minute, but were unable to log an equalizer.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina enters Friday's match with a 13-4-3 overall mark and finished in fifth place in the SEC with a 5-3-3 mark. The Gamecocks started the season by going 8-1-0, including a 7-1-0 mark in non-conference action. After a win against Auburn (2-1, ot) to start the league slate, South Carolina stumbled to go 1-3-1 in its next five matches. The Gamecocks have rebounded to go 4-0-2 the last six matches.
Savannah McCaskill, Sophie Groff and Chelsea Drennan account for a majority of the Gamecocks' offense. McCaskill and Groff both have 15 points. Groff has a team-high six points and three assists. McCaskill has five points and five assists. Drennan has 13 points on three goals and a team-high seven assists. South Carolina has 2013 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Sabrina D'Angelo between the pipes. D'Angelo owns a 0.59 goals-against average and nine shutouts on the season.
South Carolina has seven NCAA Championship appearances, including six of the last seven seasons. The Gamecocks claimed the SEC regular-season title in 2011 and captured an SEC Tournament crown in 2009.
AGGIES EXTEND 15-WIN SEASON STRETCH TO 11 YEARS
With their win in the regular-season finale against Georgia, the Aggies posted their 11th consecutive 15-win season dating back to 2004. In their first 22 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.
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.
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 388-120-29 (.750), 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 (777), Connecticut's Len Tsantiris (523), Florida's Becky Burleigh (433), Santa Clara's Jerry Smith (421) and Randy Waldrum (400), who left Notre Dame in the off-season to become head coach of the Houston Dash of the NWSL.
NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last two years the Aggies have fared well in tightly contest matches, going 17-4-4 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), Arkansas (2-1) and Georgia (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.
SEC PRESEASON POLL
Entering their third season in the SEC, the Texas A&M Aggies were selected second in the 2014 SEC Preseason Soccer Coaches' Poll. The Aggies were edged out by the Florida Gators in voting by the league's 14 head coaches. Texas A&M received 162 points (six first-place votes) and trailed only the Gators, who accumulated 164 points, including eight first-place votes. Points were compiled on a 13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis though each coach was not allowed to vote for their own squad.
HIGH-SCORING TRIO
The Aggies' roster boasts three of the 23 active players with 90 or more career points. Kelley Monogue ranks seventh among all active players with 115 points. Shea Groom ranks 17th with 98 points. Annie Kunz reports in at 21st with 91 points. The only other squad with multiple players on the list is Virginia with Makenzy Doniak and Morgan Brian tied for 11th place with 108 points apiece.
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 13 active players in terms of matches played. Allie Bailey and Meghan Streight enter the semifinal match tied for fourth among all active players with 94 matches. Kelley Monogue is in seventh place with 93 matches under her belt and Leigh Edwards ranks ninth with 92 matches. Annie Kunz and Bianca Brinson are tied for 11th place with 90 matches.
Active Leaders, Matches Played
1. Kristin Grubka, Florida State - 96
Whitney Church, Penn State - 96
3. Jamia Fields, Florida State - 95
4. Allie Bailey, Texas A&M - 94
Meghan Streight, Texas A&M - 94
Emily Hurd, Penn State - 94
7. Kelley Monogue, Texas A&M - 93
8. Leigh Edwards, Texas A&M - 92
Danielle Colaprico, Virginia - 92
10. Annie Speese, Florida - 91
11. Bianca Brinson, Texas A&M - 90
Annie Kunz, Texas A&M - 90
Kori Chapic, Penn State - 90
MONOGUE AMONG TOP ACTIVE PLAYERS IN GOALS SCORED
Kelley Monogue enters the week ranked eighth among all active players in goals scored with 46. Illinois State's Rachel Tejada leads the nation with 67, followed by Winthrop's Krystyna Freda with 63 and LaSalle's Kelsey Haycook with 58. Furman's Stephanie DeVita ranks fourth with 50 goals and Stephen F. Austin's Chelsea Raymond is fifth with 49. Hofstra's Sam Scolarici and Furman's Stephanie Verdoia are tied for sixth with 48.
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 SEC Tournament with a No. 3 ranking in the RPI released by the NCAA on November 3. Eighteen of A&M's 20 opponents are in the top 100, including 12 in the Top 50. The Aggies are 14-2-2 against RPI Top 100 squads and 8-2-2 against RPI Top 50. Texas A&M leads the country with 14 wins against RPI Top 100 squads and A&M is one of just four teams with seven or more wins against the RPI Top 50 (Stanford 9, UCLA 8, West Virginia 8, Texas A&M 8).
AGED ARSENAL
123 of the Aggies' 150 points and 45 of the 52 goals this season have been scored by seniors. Shea Groom (13), Kelley Monogue (11), Bianca Brinson (7), Annie Kunz (6), Allie Bailey (5), Meghan Streight (2) and Leigh Edwards (1) account for the 45 senior goals. Janae Cousineau (6) and Haley Pounds (1) have accounted for the seven goals not scored by seniors.
SET PIECE SUCCESS
Eighteen of the Aggies' 51 goals this season have come on set pieces, including eight corner kicks, eight 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 (13) and Kelley Monogue (11) rank second and third, respectively, in the SEC in goals scored and they're tied for 21st and 45th, respectively, nationally.
Monogue (31 - 11 goals and 9 assists) and Groom (30 - 13 goals and 4 assists) rank second and third in the SEC in points and they rank 32nd and 35th nationally. A&M is the only SEC squad with two or more 30-point scorers this season and one of just three teams in the nation (East Tennessee State and Hofstra).
30-20 CLUB
There are 14 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 23 assists and Shea Groom has 38 goals and 22 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).
Monogue is one of just eight active players with 40 or more goals and 20 or more assists.
DO-OVER
Wednesday marked the first time the Aggies ever played the same squad in back-to-back matches. The closest A&M has come is playing the same team twice in a three-match span. In 1995, the Aggies played SMU twice in a three-match span, losing 4-2 in overtime at the SWC Tournament and falling, 2-1, in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Championship. In 1998, A&M lost to Nebraska twice in a three-game span, falling 3-2 in triple overtime at the Big 12 Championship and 7-0 in the NCAA Championship second round. In 2007, the Maroon and White dropped two matches to Texas in a three-match span against Texas, losing 2-1 at the Big 12 Tournament and 3-2 at the NCAA Championship. In 2009, the Aggies thumped Texas twice in a three-match span, 4-0, in the regular-season finale and 5-1 at the Big 12 Championship quarterfinal.
TEXAS A&M SEC TOURNAMENT RECORDS
INDIVIDUAL GOALS
Game
2, Liz Keester (vs South Carolina - W, 2-1 [semifinal]; November 8, 2013)
Tournament
3, Liz Keester (2013)
Career
3, Liz Keester (2013-current)
INDIVIDUAL ASSISTS
Game
1, six times
Tournament
2, Shea Groom (2013)
Career
3, Shea Groom (2012-current)
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
The Aggies have a tradition of success at conference tournaments with an overall mark of 28-11-4 in league tournaments, winning six conference tournament crowns, including last year's SEC title.
A&M posted a 23-10-4 record at the Big 12 Championship and won the title in five of the tournament's first 16 years. The Aggies won titles in 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2011.
UP NEXT
If the Aggies win, they will play either Kentucky or Tennessee in the SEC Tournament championship match at 2 pm on Sunday.
Aggies Face South Carolina in SEC Tournament Semis on Friday
The Texas A&M Aggies and South Carolina Gamecocks meet in an SEC Tournament semifinal match at 3:30 pm on Friday. The squads played to a 2-2 draw in College Station on Sunday, October 26, one of just two blemishes on A&M's conference ledger.