Aggies Face Kentucky in SEC Title Match on Sunday
Nov 08, 2014 | Soccer
ORANGE BEACH, Alabama - The Texas A&M Aggies and Kentucky Wildcats meet in the SEC Tournament championship match at 2 pm Sunday. The contest will air on national television via ESPNU and on national radio via Sirius/XM Radio. Locally, SportsRadio 1150 the Zone will feature the match on live radio.
The match features the two hottest teams in the SEC. After suffering a 2-1 loss at Texas A&M on October 5, Kentucky has rattled off an eight-match win streak. Since dropping a 1-0 decision against Florida on October 3, the Aggies are 8-0-1 in a nine-match stretch.
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 6-1 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
Sunday's match will be televised on the ESPNU. The match will have video streaming available 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 - SOUTH CAROLINA
The Aggies found offense hard to come by in their match against the defensive-minded Gamecocks, but the Maroon and White made the most out of a set piece opportunity in the waning moments to advance to the SEC Tournament championship match for the second consecutive season. Kelley Monogue sent in a corner kick from the left arc and found the head of Bianca Brinson who put it home for the lone goal of the match with 3:20 remaining in regulation. In goal, Jordan Day recorded her second consecutive shutout and the 31st of her career, making four saves.
TOURNAMENT INTENSITY
With the exception of Wednesday's 3-0 shutout against Georgia, all of Texas A&M's SEC Tournament wins have been by one goal and the Aggies' highest goal output has been two goals on two separate occasions - the 2013 semifinal against South Carolina (2-1) and the 2013 championship match against Florida (2-1). The Aggies have three 1-0 wins to their credit in SEC Tournament play. 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 116. 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. KENTUCKY
The Aggies own a 2-0-1 edge in the all-time series against Kentucky. A&M defeated the then-No. 9 Wildcats, 3-2, in overtime in an NCAA Championship second round match in Lexington in 1999. The Aggies and Wildcats played to a 2-2 draw in their first meeting as SEC brethren in 2012. The teams played to a scoreless draw in the first half and then Kelli Hubly and Kelley Monogue alternated scoring two goals apiece with Monogue's second tally tying the match in the 84th minute.
Earlier this season, A&M notched a 2-1 win over Kentucky. Janae Cousineau scored the match's first goal in the 23rd minute when knocking in a free-kick service from Meghan Streight. Kentucky knotted the match at 1-1 in the 77th minute when Arin Gillaland crossed a ball from outside the penalty box and it hit a A&M defender in the hip and went the goal. Bianca Brinson put in the game winner with 52 second remaining, shooting from 12 yards out on the right to the far post.
SCOUTING KENTUCKY
The Wildcats are the hottest team in the SEC, entering the contest on an eight-game win streak. Kentucky enters the fray with a 15-5-0 overall mark and the Wildcats finished in third place in the SEC with an 8-3 mark. The eight-match win streak started with five straight shutouts and Kentucky has won its last three matches by one goal apiece, including a 2-1 win against Auburn in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal and a 3-2 win against Tennessee in the tournament semifinal.
The Kentucky offense is led by 2013 NSCAA All-America third-teamer and 2014 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Arin Gilliland who has 22 points on the season with seven goals and eight assists. Jade Klump leads the team with eight goals and has added an assist for 17 points. Michaela Dooley has 14 points with three goals and eight assists and Courtney Raetzman has 14 points on six goals and two assists. Two netminders have split action with Taylor Braun starting 16 matches and posting a 0.91 goals-against average and two shutouts in 1,481 minutes. Ayanna Parker has played in six matches and earned four starts, logging a 1.06 goals-against average and one shutout in 341 minutes.
Last season, the Wildcats finished 14-7-1 overall and posted fifth in the SEC with a 7-4 mark. Kentucky advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship, posting a 3-1 win against Ohio State before falling to eventual national champion UCLA, 3-0.
Kentucky is searching for its first-ever SEC regular-season title. The Wildcats won SEC Tournament crowns in 1995 and 2006. Kentucky has appeared in 10 NCAA Championships, including each of the last three.
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 389-120-29 (.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 (524), Florida's Becky Burleigh (433), Santa Clara's Jerry Smith (423) and Randy Waldrum (400), who left Notre Dame in the off-season to become head coach of the Houston Dash of the NWSL.
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.
NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last two years the Aggies have fared well in tightly contest matches, going 18-4-4 in matches decided by one goal or less. This year, in regular-season action, 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. The Maroon and White won their SEC Tournament semifinal match, 1-0, against South Carolina.
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.
DAY CLIMBING CAREER WINS LIST
Jordan Day enters the weekend with a career record of 54-16-6. She ranks third on the Aggies' career list for goalkeeper victories, trailing only Kati Jo Spisak, who owns the school record with her 69-21-6 mark from 2002-05, and Melanie Wilson who logged 66 wins from 1996-99.
BIG 12 ERA
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 team in the conference to earn a Big 12 Tournament berth in the first 16 years of its existence.
DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO
In 2013, the Aggies featured the most balanced offensive attack in the SEC. A&M was the only team in the league with four players to log at least six goals on the season. The Aggies were headlined by Shea Groom with 14 goals, followed by Liz Keester (10), Allie Bailey (9) and Kelley Monogue (6). A&M was also the only SEC team with seven players with at least 10 points on the year. Groom led the Maroon and White with 35 points, followed by Keester (24), Bailey (22), Monogue (17), Bianca Brinson (13), Annie Kunz (11) and Karlie Mueller (10).
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 116 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 12 active players in terms of matches played. Allie Bailey and Meghan Streight enter the SEC Tournament championship match tied for fourth among all active players with 95 matches. Kelley Monogue is in sixth place with 94 matches under her belt and Leigh Edwards ranks eighth with 93 matches. Annie Kunz and Bianca Brinson are tied for 10th place with 91 matches. Meghan Streight's 95 starts leads all active players.
Active Leaders, Matches Played
1. Kristin Grubka, Florida State - 97
2. Whitney Church, Penn State - 96
Jamia Fields, Florida State - 96
4. Allie Bailey, Texas A&M - 95
Meghan Streight, Texas A&M - 95
6. Kelley Monogue, Texas A&M - 94
Emily Hurd, Penn State - 94
8. Leigh Edwards, Texas A&M - 93
Danielle Colaprico, Virginia - 93
10. Bianca Brinson, Texas A&M - 91
Annie Kunz, Texas A&M - 91
Annie Speese, Florida - 91
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. She also scored the game-winning goal in A&M's 1-0 win over #17 South Carolina in the SEC Tournament semifinal match with 3:20 left in the second half.
RPI NOTES
The Aggies enter the SEC Tournament with a No. 3 ranking in the RPI released by the NCAA on November 3. Nineteen of A&M's 21 opponents are in the top 100, including 13 in the Top 50. The Aggies are 15-2-2 against RPI Top 100 squads and 9-2-2 against RPI Top 50. Texas A&M leads the country with 15 wins against RPI Top 100 squads and A&M is one of just three teams with nine or more wins against the RPI Top 50 (Stanford 10, Texas A&M 9,UCLA 9).
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.
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
126 of the Aggies' 153 points and 46 of the 53 goals this season have been scored by seniors. Shea Groom (13), Kelley Monogue (11), Bianca Brinson (8), 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
Twenty of the Aggies' 53 goals this season have come on set pieces, including nine corner kicks, eight free kicks, two throw-ins 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 (32 - 11 goals and 10 assists) and Groom (30 - 13 goals and 4 assists) rank second and third in the SEC in points and they rank 29th 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).
MULTIPLE GOAL GAMES
The Aggies have had players record multiple goals in a game six times this season, including Shea Groom's hat trick against Tennessee on September 18. Groom also added two goals in a 4-1 win over LSU. Kelley Monogue also has two multiple goal efforts, with two goals each against Dayton and UCF. Bianca Brinson tallied two goals in a 2-2 tie against Arizona and Annie Kunz logged two goals in a 6-2 win at Vanderbilt.
8/22 - Kelley Monogue (2) - DAYTON (W, 4-3)
8/29 - Kelley Monogue (2) - UCF (W, 3-0)
9/5 - Bianca Brinson (2) - vs. Arizona (T, 2-2)
9/18 - Shea Groom (3) - TENNESSEE (W, 3-0)
9/26 - Shea Groom (2) - at LSU (W, 4-1)
10/10 - Annie Kunz (2) - at Vanderbilt (W, 6-2)
LONE STAR DOMINANCE
Since the 2008 season, the Aggies own a 20-0-5 mark against in-state rivals, including an 11-0-4 record against their former Big 12 Conference colleagues. Last season, A&M went 1-0-2 against Lone Star foe, topping UTSA, 1-0, in the second game of the season, tying Baylor, 0-0, in the sixth game, and tying Texas Tech, 2-2, in the NCAA Second Round, eventually advancing on penalty kicks. This year, the Aggies dropped Stephen F. Austin, 1-0, on August 24.
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.
SECOND TIME AROUND
The meeting with Kentucky marks the third consecutive match the Aggies will be playing a team for the second time during the 2014 campaign. Against both Georgia and South Carolina the results were better for the Aggies. In the regular-season, A&M held off Georgia, 2-1, but the Maroon and White scored a decisive 3-0 win against the Bulldogs, 3-0, in the SEC Quarterfinal. After playing South Carolina to a 2-2 draw in the regular-season, the Aggies defeated South Carolina, 2-1, in the SEC Semifinal. Texas A&M beat 2-1 during the regular-season.
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, numerous occasions
Tournament
2, Kelley Monogue (2014)
2, Shea Groom (2013)
Career
3, Shea Groom (2012-current)
3, Kelley Monogue (2012-current)
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
The Aggies have a tradition of success at conference tournaments with an overall mark of 29-11-4 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
A win gives A&M an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Championship. With a loss, it still remains very highly likely the Aggies will earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Championship considering their No. 3 ranking in the RPI.
