Sunday, October 11
Auburn, Ala.
2:00 PM
Texas A&M
at
Auburn
Match Day Preview: Auburn
Oct 10, 2015 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 17 Texas A&M Aggies and No. 8 Auburn Tigers square off in a Top 20 showdown Sunday in Alabama. The teams are tied for second place in the SEC standings with 12 points on identical 4-2-0 league ledgers. A winning squad would remain in hot pursuit of first-place South Carolina (16 points – 5-0-1 SEC) with four matches remaining in the regular-season. Sunday's match features two of the SEC's top goal-scoring threats, including Texas A&M's Haley Pounds (nine) and Auburn's Casie Ramsier (eight).
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Sunday's match is available digitally on mobile devices, tablets, PCs and connect-TVs for SEC Network subscribers whose cable/satellite packages allow access to SEC Network+ through the WatchESPN app and SECSports.com. The match can be heard on the RadioAggieland app, RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com. Sunday's match may be heard on Sports Radio 1150 and 102.7 The Zone in Bryan-College Station.
ELLIS FIELD WIN STREAK
The Aggies own a 13-match home win streak after Friday's action. The stretch includes an 8-0-0 mark at Ellis Field in 2015 and four wins at the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M is also unbeaten in their last 16 matches at Ellis Field, going 15-0-1.
WEAPONS UPON WEAPONS
Texas A&M boasts one of the largest caches of offensive weapons in the nation. Among SEC teams, the Aggies are the lone squad to boast more than seven players with three or more goals. Haley Pounds (9), Emily Bates (5), Janae Cousineau (4), Mikaela Harvey (4), Kate Hajdu (3), McKayla Paulson (3) and Ally Watt (3) all have three or more goals on the season.
CREAM OF THE SEC CROP
Since Texas A&M's entrance in the SEC in 2012, the Aggies own the best winning percentage in league play at .805. Texas A&M (32-7-2) and Florida (32-8-1) are tied for the most victories in league action during the span. Kentucky is the only other team in the league to log more than 25 wins in SEC play from 2012-15, going 26-12-3.
Texas A&M and Florida have accounted for all of the regular-season and tournament titles the last three years. In 2012, Florida won the regular-season title by a two-point edge (33-31) and claimed the tournament crown. In 2013, the teams were co-champions identical 9-2-0 records in SEC play, but the Aggies prevailed over the Gators in the SEC Tournament championship game, 2-1. Last season, Texas A&M edged out Florida by one point for the regular-season title (28-27) and completed their second consecutive SEC Double with a 1-0 win over Kentucky in the tournament title match.
LAST TIME OUT - ALABAMA
The Aggies had their offense and defense clicking on all cylinders for the second consecutive game as they notched a 4-0 win against Alabama. Mia Hummel picked up her second consecutive shutout in her third career start, making three saves and pouncing on a plethora of crosses to snuff out attacks. The attack was led by freshmen Emily Bates and Ally Watt who tallied two goals apiece. Watt broke the scoring seal in the 23rd minute with an unassisted goal, less than 30 seconds after entering the match. Bates also came off the bench to score her goal in the 36th minute, getting a right foot on the ball at four yards out on a service from Karlie Mueller. Bates scored in the 78th minute on an assist from Kate Hajdu and Watt capped off the scoring in the 86th minute putting home a corner kick offering from Kristi Leonard.
SERIES VS. AUBURN
The Aggies are 4-1-0 all-time against the Tigers, including a win in their only previous meeting in Auburn. All five meetings have come since Texas A&M joined the SEC. The Aggies won the initial meeting, 2-0, at Ellis Field in 2012. Auburn rebounded to knock A&M out of the 2012 SEC Tournament with a 2-0 semifinal win. The Aggies won a pair of matches in 2013, besting the Tigers 3-1 in Auburn and 1-0 in the SEC Tournament semifinal. Last year, the Maroon and White earned a 3-1 victory at Ellis Field. Annie Kunz, Bianca Brinson and Janae Cousineau all logged goals in the victory.
SCOUTING AUBURN
The Tigers sit in second place in the SEC standings with a 4-2-0 mark in league action. Ranked No. 5 in the most recent RPI released by the NCAA, Auburn is 11-2-0 overall. The Tigers did not yield a goal in their first six non-conference matches, blanking UC Irvine (1-0), Long Beach State (1-0 - 2ot), UAB (4-0), Furman (2-0), Samford (2-0) and Old Dominion (1-0). They also have a 2-1 win against South Alabama. After dropping the league opener at Missouri (2-1), Auburn rattled off wins against Tennessee (3-1), LSU (3-2 - 2ot), Florida (3-2) and Alabama (2-1 - 2ot). On Thursday, the Tigers suffered a 2-0 loss at South Carolina.
The Auburn offense is paced by the Ramsier sisters. Casie Ramsier leads the squad with 18 points on a team-high eight goals and two assists. Brooke Ramsier has 11 points on three goals and a team-high five assists. Taylor Troutman has added nine points on three goals and three assists and Kristen Dodson has seven points with three goals and one assist. Sarah Le Beau has started all 12 matches in goal for Auburn, notching a 0.83 goals-against average, 47 saves and five shutouts.
TEXAS A&M OWNS LONGEST ACTIVE 15-WIN SEASON STREAK
Texas A&M entered the 2015 campaign with 11 consecutive 15-win seasons, the longest active stretch in Division I. The only other team to enter the season with a double-digit stretch was Florida State with 10 consecutive 15-win seasons. Stanford (9) and Florida (8) were the only other schools with more than five consecutive 15-win campaigns. 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 22, set last season with a 22-3-2 mark.
CONSECUTIVE 15-WIN SEASONS ENTERING 2015
Texas A&M 11
Florida State 10
Stanford 9
Florida 8
RETURNING OFFENSE
The Aggies return just seven of 71 goals (9.9 percent) from last season. Janae Cousineau accounts for six of the returning goals and Haley Pounds notched one goal in 2014. A&M returns 14 of 60 assists from 2014. Karlie Mueller had the highest total among the returnees with five. Cousineau, Pounds, McKayla Paulson and Mikaela Harvey each notched two assists in 2014. Cousineau's 14 points last season is the most among the returnees.
Texas A&M's 11 returnees combined for just seven goals and 14 assists (28 points) during the 2014 campaign. Through 14 games, the same 11 returnees have notched 22 goals and 19 assists (63 points).
WINNING
With the win against Alabama on October 9, the Aggies guaranteed finishing the season with a winning record. Texas A&M has finished with a winning record in all of its previous 22 seasons. The closest the Aggies have finished to the .500 mark is the 14-8 (.636) record they posted in 1998.
GUERRIERI REACHES 400-WIN MILESTONE
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 405-124-29 (.752), he ranks fifth in victories and sixth in winning percentage (minimum five years as a Division I head coach). Guerrieri ranks fifth all-time among NCAA Division I coaches in victories, trailing only North Carolina's Anson Dorrance (790), Connecticut's Len Tsantiris (535), Florida's Becky Burleigh (444) and Santa Clara's Jerry Smith (431).
CONFERENCE WINNING
The Aggies have finished with a winning record in league play in all 19 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 19 seasons of league action, A&M has finished first or second in the conference standings on 17 occasions with the other finishes coming in 1998 (3rd Big 12 - 7-2) and 2003 (5th Big 12 - 5-3-2).
SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORES
After getting a year of seasoning under the auspices of last year's nine-player senior class, Texas A&M's four sophomores came out like gang busters in the first 14 games of the season. The quartet accounted for 17 goals and 10 assists for 44 points through the first seven weekends. Haley Pounds has produced 22 points with nine goals and four assists, including her first career hat trick against Abilene Christian. She was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week the opening week when she logged one goal and four assists. After going without a goal in her first 22 career matches, Mikaela Harvey has scored a goal in four of the last 12 contests. McKayla Paulson notched the first two goals of her career, both in the win at Rice, and added a goal against Mississippi State and assists against UC Irvine and North Texas. Stephanie Malherbe logged her first career goal in the 2-1 win against then No. 10 Florida and has added three assists. The four sophomores all played at least 1,100 of the 1,279 minutes on the season with Paulson playing every second of the matches.
FILLING THE HOLE IN GOAL
With the exit of Jordan Day and Renee McDermott, the Aggies lost all but 31 of their goalkeeper minutes from the last four seasons. Day and McDermott played every minute of 2012 and 2013. In 2011, Megan Majewski played 17 minutes in goal. Last season, Taylor Saucier played 14 minutes in Texas A&M's NCAA Championship first round win against Houston Baptist, for the only action in her career entering the 2015 campaign.
On the season, the Aggie goalkeepers have combined to register a 0.91 goals-against average and six shutouts. Saucier has started 11 contests, logging 920 minutes. She owns a 1.08 goals-against average, 35 saves and two shutouts. Saucier's goals-against average when PKs are taken out of the equation, stands at 0.88. Mia Hummel has seen action in six matches, including three starts. She has yielded two goals, made 14 saves and owns shutouts against Mississippi State and Alabama. The pair combined to record shutouts against Northwestern State and UC Irvine.
MUELLER AMONG ACTIVE LEADERS IN GAMES PLAYED
Texas A&M senior Karlie Mueller ranks 10th in the nation and second among SEC players in career matches played with 82 caps. She trails on Florida's Christen Westphal (85) among SEC players. Mueller has made 70 career starts and owns 19 career assists, including 10 as a sophomore in 2013. Her first career goal came in her 6,047th minute of play, scoring a golden goal in the 109th minute of a 2-1 victory against North Texas.
PAULSON EARNS EARLY IRONMAN HONORS
Defender McKayla Paulson leads the Aggies in minutes played, working the entirety of the first 14 matches for 1,279 minutes of play. Grace Wright (1,260), Ashlynn Harryman (1,203), Haley Pounds (1,190), Mikaela Harvey (1,181), Karlie Mueller (1,180) and Stephanie Malherbe (1,137) are all averaging over 80 minutes per match.
SUCCESSFUL SENIORS
Janae Cousineau, Kristi Leonard and Karlie Mueller represent one of the winningest active senior classes in the nation. The trio have enjoyed a record of 70-16-5 over their four years, the third-best win total in the nation. Florida State's seniors are 76-8-5, followed by Virginia 73-9-4.
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.
UP NEXT
The Aggies return to action on Friday, October 16 as the Maroon and White travel to the Bluegrass State for a match against the Kentucky Wildcats.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Sunday's match is available digitally on mobile devices, tablets, PCs and connect-TVs for SEC Network subscribers whose cable/satellite packages allow access to SEC Network+ through the WatchESPN app and SECSports.com. The match can be heard on the RadioAggieland app, RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com. Sunday's match may be heard on Sports Radio 1150 and 102.7 The Zone in Bryan-College Station.
ELLIS FIELD WIN STREAK
The Aggies own a 13-match home win streak after Friday's action. The stretch includes an 8-0-0 mark at Ellis Field in 2015 and four wins at the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M is also unbeaten in their last 16 matches at Ellis Field, going 15-0-1.
WEAPONS UPON WEAPONS
Texas A&M boasts one of the largest caches of offensive weapons in the nation. Among SEC teams, the Aggies are the lone squad to boast more than seven players with three or more goals. Haley Pounds (9), Emily Bates (5), Janae Cousineau (4), Mikaela Harvey (4), Kate Hajdu (3), McKayla Paulson (3) and Ally Watt (3) all have three or more goals on the season.
CREAM OF THE SEC CROP
Since Texas A&M's entrance in the SEC in 2012, the Aggies own the best winning percentage in league play at .805. Texas A&M (32-7-2) and Florida (32-8-1) are tied for the most victories in league action during the span. Kentucky is the only other team in the league to log more than 25 wins in SEC play from 2012-15, going 26-12-3.
Texas A&M and Florida have accounted for all of the regular-season and tournament titles the last three years. In 2012, Florida won the regular-season title by a two-point edge (33-31) and claimed the tournament crown. In 2013, the teams were co-champions identical 9-2-0 records in SEC play, but the Aggies prevailed over the Gators in the SEC Tournament championship game, 2-1. Last season, Texas A&M edged out Florida by one point for the regular-season title (28-27) and completed their second consecutive SEC Double with a 1-0 win over Kentucky in the tournament title match.
LAST TIME OUT - ALABAMA
The Aggies had their offense and defense clicking on all cylinders for the second consecutive game as they notched a 4-0 win against Alabama. Mia Hummel picked up her second consecutive shutout in her third career start, making three saves and pouncing on a plethora of crosses to snuff out attacks. The attack was led by freshmen Emily Bates and Ally Watt who tallied two goals apiece. Watt broke the scoring seal in the 23rd minute with an unassisted goal, less than 30 seconds after entering the match. Bates also came off the bench to score her goal in the 36th minute, getting a right foot on the ball at four yards out on a service from Karlie Mueller. Bates scored in the 78th minute on an assist from Kate Hajdu and Watt capped off the scoring in the 86th minute putting home a corner kick offering from Kristi Leonard.
SERIES VS. AUBURN
The Aggies are 4-1-0 all-time against the Tigers, including a win in their only previous meeting in Auburn. All five meetings have come since Texas A&M joined the SEC. The Aggies won the initial meeting, 2-0, at Ellis Field in 2012. Auburn rebounded to knock A&M out of the 2012 SEC Tournament with a 2-0 semifinal win. The Aggies won a pair of matches in 2013, besting the Tigers 3-1 in Auburn and 1-0 in the SEC Tournament semifinal. Last year, the Maroon and White earned a 3-1 victory at Ellis Field. Annie Kunz, Bianca Brinson and Janae Cousineau all logged goals in the victory.
SCOUTING AUBURN
The Tigers sit in second place in the SEC standings with a 4-2-0 mark in league action. Ranked No. 5 in the most recent RPI released by the NCAA, Auburn is 11-2-0 overall. The Tigers did not yield a goal in their first six non-conference matches, blanking UC Irvine (1-0), Long Beach State (1-0 - 2ot), UAB (4-0), Furman (2-0), Samford (2-0) and Old Dominion (1-0). They also have a 2-1 win against South Alabama. After dropping the league opener at Missouri (2-1), Auburn rattled off wins against Tennessee (3-1), LSU (3-2 - 2ot), Florida (3-2) and Alabama (2-1 - 2ot). On Thursday, the Tigers suffered a 2-0 loss at South Carolina.
The Auburn offense is paced by the Ramsier sisters. Casie Ramsier leads the squad with 18 points on a team-high eight goals and two assists. Brooke Ramsier has 11 points on three goals and a team-high five assists. Taylor Troutman has added nine points on three goals and three assists and Kristen Dodson has seven points with three goals and one assist. Sarah Le Beau has started all 12 matches in goal for Auburn, notching a 0.83 goals-against average, 47 saves and five shutouts.
TEXAS A&M OWNS LONGEST ACTIVE 15-WIN SEASON STREAK
Texas A&M entered the 2015 campaign with 11 consecutive 15-win seasons, the longest active stretch in Division I. The only other team to enter the season with a double-digit stretch was Florida State with 10 consecutive 15-win seasons. Stanford (9) and Florida (8) were the only other schools with more than five consecutive 15-win campaigns. 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 22, set last season with a 22-3-2 mark.
CONSECUTIVE 15-WIN SEASONS ENTERING 2015
Texas A&M 11
Florida State 10
Stanford 9
Florida 8
RETURNING OFFENSE
The Aggies return just seven of 71 goals (9.9 percent) from last season. Janae Cousineau accounts for six of the returning goals and Haley Pounds notched one goal in 2014. A&M returns 14 of 60 assists from 2014. Karlie Mueller had the highest total among the returnees with five. Cousineau, Pounds, McKayla Paulson and Mikaela Harvey each notched two assists in 2014. Cousineau's 14 points last season is the most among the returnees.
Texas A&M's 11 returnees combined for just seven goals and 14 assists (28 points) during the 2014 campaign. Through 14 games, the same 11 returnees have notched 22 goals and 19 assists (63 points).
WINNING
With the win against Alabama on October 9, the Aggies guaranteed finishing the season with a winning record. Texas A&M has finished with a winning record in all of its previous 22 seasons. The closest the Aggies have finished to the .500 mark is the 14-8 (.636) record they posted in 1998.
GUERRIERI REACHES 400-WIN MILESTONE
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 405-124-29 (.752), he ranks fifth in victories and sixth in winning percentage (minimum five years as a Division I head coach). Guerrieri ranks fifth all-time among NCAA Division I coaches in victories, trailing only North Carolina's Anson Dorrance (790), Connecticut's Len Tsantiris (535), Florida's Becky Burleigh (444) and Santa Clara's Jerry Smith (431).
CONFERENCE WINNING
The Aggies have finished with a winning record in league play in all 19 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 19 seasons of league action, A&M has finished first or second in the conference standings on 17 occasions with the other finishes coming in 1998 (3rd Big 12 - 7-2) and 2003 (5th Big 12 - 5-3-2).
SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORES
After getting a year of seasoning under the auspices of last year's nine-player senior class, Texas A&M's four sophomores came out like gang busters in the first 14 games of the season. The quartet accounted for 17 goals and 10 assists for 44 points through the first seven weekends. Haley Pounds has produced 22 points with nine goals and four assists, including her first career hat trick against Abilene Christian. She was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week the opening week when she logged one goal and four assists. After going without a goal in her first 22 career matches, Mikaela Harvey has scored a goal in four of the last 12 contests. McKayla Paulson notched the first two goals of her career, both in the win at Rice, and added a goal against Mississippi State and assists against UC Irvine and North Texas. Stephanie Malherbe logged her first career goal in the 2-1 win against then No. 10 Florida and has added three assists. The four sophomores all played at least 1,100 of the 1,279 minutes on the season with Paulson playing every second of the matches.
FILLING THE HOLE IN GOAL
With the exit of Jordan Day and Renee McDermott, the Aggies lost all but 31 of their goalkeeper minutes from the last four seasons. Day and McDermott played every minute of 2012 and 2013. In 2011, Megan Majewski played 17 minutes in goal. Last season, Taylor Saucier played 14 minutes in Texas A&M's NCAA Championship first round win against Houston Baptist, for the only action in her career entering the 2015 campaign.
On the season, the Aggie goalkeepers have combined to register a 0.91 goals-against average and six shutouts. Saucier has started 11 contests, logging 920 minutes. She owns a 1.08 goals-against average, 35 saves and two shutouts. Saucier's goals-against average when PKs are taken out of the equation, stands at 0.88. Mia Hummel has seen action in six matches, including three starts. She has yielded two goals, made 14 saves and owns shutouts against Mississippi State and Alabama. The pair combined to record shutouts against Northwestern State and UC Irvine.
MUELLER AMONG ACTIVE LEADERS IN GAMES PLAYED
Texas A&M senior Karlie Mueller ranks 10th in the nation and second among SEC players in career matches played with 82 caps. She trails on Florida's Christen Westphal (85) among SEC players. Mueller has made 70 career starts and owns 19 career assists, including 10 as a sophomore in 2013. Her first career goal came in her 6,047th minute of play, scoring a golden goal in the 109th minute of a 2-1 victory against North Texas.
PAULSON EARNS EARLY IRONMAN HONORS
Defender McKayla Paulson leads the Aggies in minutes played, working the entirety of the first 14 matches for 1,279 minutes of play. Grace Wright (1,260), Ashlynn Harryman (1,203), Haley Pounds (1,190), Mikaela Harvey (1,181), Karlie Mueller (1,180) and Stephanie Malherbe (1,137) are all averaging over 80 minutes per match.
SUCCESSFUL SENIORS
Janae Cousineau, Kristi Leonard and Karlie Mueller represent one of the winningest active senior classes in the nation. The trio have enjoyed a record of 70-16-5 over their four years, the third-best win total in the nation. Florida State's seniors are 76-8-5, followed by Virginia 73-9-4.
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.
UP NEXT
The Aggies return to action on Friday, October 16 as the Maroon and White travel to the Bluegrass State for a match against the Kentucky Wildcats.
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