Friday, October 9
College Station
7:00 PM
Texas A&M
vs
Alabama
Match Day Preview: Alabama
Oct 08, 2015 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 17 Texas A&M Aggies embark on a pivotal match as they host the Alabama Crimson Tide at the midway point of the SEC schedule Friday. The Maroon and White look to continue a 15-match home unbeaten string, including a 12-match win streak at Ellis Field. The Aggies enter play in fifth place in the SEC standings, but just four points behind first-place South Carolina.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Both matches are 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 matches can be heard on the RadioAggieland app, RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com. Friday's match may be heard on Fusion FM - HD2 on HD radio at 95.1-2 FM locally. 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 12-match home win streak entering Friday's action. The stretch includes a 7-0-0 mark at Ellis Field in 2015 and four wins at the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M is also unbeaten in their last 15 matches at Ellis Field, going 14-0-1.
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 six players with three or more goals. Haley Pounds (9), Janae Cousineau (4), Mikaela Harvey (4), Emily Bates (3), Kate Hajdu (3) and McKayla Paulson (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 .800. Texas A&M (31-7-2) and Florida (31-8-1) 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 26-12-2.
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 - MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Aggies had their offense and defense clicking on all cylinders as they snapped a two-match funk with a 4-0 win over Mississippi State. Mia Hummel picked up the shutout in her second career start, making one save and pouncing on a plethora of crosses to snuff out attacks. McKayla Paulson put the Aggies on top in the 12th minute knocking in a loose ball on a corner kick opportunity. Brittany Crabtree tacked on a goal in the 56th minute sending home a rebound after Stephanie Malherbe's shot hit the crossbar. Janae Cousineau and Karlie Mueller assisted on a Haley Pounds goal in the 66th minute and Cousineau capped off the scoring in the 89th minute, getting her head on a Mueller free kick.
SERIES VS. ALABAMA
The Aggies are 4-1-0 all-time against Alabama, including 2-0-0 since the Maroon and White joined the SEC in 2012. Texas A&M won the initial SEC meeting, 5-0, at Ellis Field led by Shea Groom with two goals. The last meeting came in 2013 with the Aggies scoring a 3-0 victory in Tuscaloosa paced by Groom with two goals again. The teams met on three occasions in the 1990s. The first contest was in 1995 with Alabama scoring a 3-1 victory in College Station. The next season, the Aggies won 2-1 in Tuscaloosa and the Maroon and White won a 1998 NCAA Tournament meeting, 3-1, at Ellis Field.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
The Crimson Tide are 4-7-2 overall and are tied for 13th place in the SEC standings with a 1-4-0 mark. Alabama's offense has been its Achilles heel, logging just 11 goals in 13 matches and suffering six shutouts. The Crimson Tide opened league play with a 3-2 win in double overtime against LSU, but have losses to Kentucky (1-0), Ole Miss (3-2), South Carolina (3-2) and Auburn (2-1 - 2ot). Alabama has non-conference wins against Troy (1-0), Southern Miss (1-0) and Jacksonville State (2-0), ties against Wake Forest (0-0) and Harvard (0-0) and losses to Memphis (1-0), Tennessee Tech (2-1) and Rhode Island (1-0).
Emily Rusk has started 11 matches in goal, playing 952 of the 1,234 minutes in the woodwork. She owns a 0.95 goals-against average, 36 saves and four shutouts. Kat Stratton has two starts in goal and has played 283 minutes in four matches. She has a 1.59 goals-against average and 10 saves.
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 2014
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 13 games, the same 11 returnees have notched 22 goals and 17 assists (61 points).
MAKING ELLIS FIELD A FORTRESS
Texas A&M owns a 213-30-6 (.867) 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 113-14-6 (.872) mark on the friendly pitch. Texas A&M is 220-30-6 (.871) all-time in College Station, going 7-0-0 in their one season at Old Tiger Field.
WINNING
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.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Aggies welcomed nine freshmen to the squad this season and they've made the immediate impact that was necessary for a strong start to the season. Emily Bates leads the squad with nine starts and Kate Hajdu and Ally Watt have eight starts apiece. Brittany Crabtree has received the starting assignment on seven occasions. Mia Hummel, Amethyst Kelly, Claudette Lassandro, Kendall Ritchie and Margaret Schmidt have all seen relief action.
Hajdu was named the SEC Freshman of the Week the opening weekend and Bates earned the honor for the fourth week of action. Bates ranks second on the team with 11 points on three goals and five assists. Hajdu has three goals and two assists. Crabtree has one goal and one assist and Lassandro has one goal on the season.
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 404-124-29 (.751), 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 16 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 13 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 1,000 of the 1,189 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 0.98 goals-against average and five 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 five matches, including two starts. She has yielded two goals, made 11 saves and owns a shutout against Mississippi State. 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 81 caps. She trails on Florida's Christen Westphal (84) among SEC players. Mueller has made 69 career starts and owns 18 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 13 matches for 1,189 minutes of play. Grace Wright (1,170), Haley Pounds (1,124), Ashlynn Harryman (1,113), Mikaela Harvey (1,106), Karlie Mueller (1,090) and Stephanie Malherbe (1,059) 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 69-16-5 over their four years, the third-best win total in the nation. Florida State's seniors are 75-8-5, followed by Virginia 72-9-4.
NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last three seasons, the Aggies are 24-6-4 in games decided by one game or less. This season, the Maroon and White are 3-2-0 in games decided by one goal or less. Last season, Texas A&M went 11-2-2 in one-goal games, including a pair of 2-1 victories in their run to the College Cup. The Aggies went 10-2-2 in the nail-biters in 2012, including all three of their wins en route to winning their first-ever SEC Tournament title.
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 Sunday when they travel to Alabama for a 2 pm match at the No. 8 Auburn Tigers.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Both matches are 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 matches can be heard on the RadioAggieland app, RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com. Friday's match may be heard on Fusion FM - HD2 on HD radio at 95.1-2 FM locally. 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 12-match home win streak entering Friday's action. The stretch includes a 7-0-0 mark at Ellis Field in 2015 and four wins at the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M is also unbeaten in their last 15 matches at Ellis Field, going 14-0-1.
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 six players with three or more goals. Haley Pounds (9), Janae Cousineau (4), Mikaela Harvey (4), Emily Bates (3), Kate Hajdu (3) and McKayla Paulson (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 .800. Texas A&M (31-7-2) and Florida (31-8-1) 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 26-12-2.
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 - MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Aggies had their offense and defense clicking on all cylinders as they snapped a two-match funk with a 4-0 win over Mississippi State. Mia Hummel picked up the shutout in her second career start, making one save and pouncing on a plethora of crosses to snuff out attacks. McKayla Paulson put the Aggies on top in the 12th minute knocking in a loose ball on a corner kick opportunity. Brittany Crabtree tacked on a goal in the 56th minute sending home a rebound after Stephanie Malherbe's shot hit the crossbar. Janae Cousineau and Karlie Mueller assisted on a Haley Pounds goal in the 66th minute and Cousineau capped off the scoring in the 89th minute, getting her head on a Mueller free kick.
SERIES VS. ALABAMA
The Aggies are 4-1-0 all-time against Alabama, including 2-0-0 since the Maroon and White joined the SEC in 2012. Texas A&M won the initial SEC meeting, 5-0, at Ellis Field led by Shea Groom with two goals. The last meeting came in 2013 with the Aggies scoring a 3-0 victory in Tuscaloosa paced by Groom with two goals again. The teams met on three occasions in the 1990s. The first contest was in 1995 with Alabama scoring a 3-1 victory in College Station. The next season, the Aggies won 2-1 in Tuscaloosa and the Maroon and White won a 1998 NCAA Tournament meeting, 3-1, at Ellis Field.
SCOUTING ALABAMA
The Crimson Tide are 4-7-2 overall and are tied for 13th place in the SEC standings with a 1-4-0 mark. Alabama's offense has been its Achilles heel, logging just 11 goals in 13 matches and suffering six shutouts. The Crimson Tide opened league play with a 3-2 win in double overtime against LSU, but have losses to Kentucky (1-0), Ole Miss (3-2), South Carolina (3-2) and Auburn (2-1 - 2ot). Alabama has non-conference wins against Troy (1-0), Southern Miss (1-0) and Jacksonville State (2-0), ties against Wake Forest (0-0) and Harvard (0-0) and losses to Memphis (1-0), Tennessee Tech (2-1) and Rhode Island (1-0).
Emily Rusk has started 11 matches in goal, playing 952 of the 1,234 minutes in the woodwork. She owns a 0.95 goals-against average, 36 saves and four shutouts. Kat Stratton has two starts in goal and has played 283 minutes in four matches. She has a 1.59 goals-against average and 10 saves.
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 2014
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 13 games, the same 11 returnees have notched 22 goals and 17 assists (61 points).
MAKING ELLIS FIELD A FORTRESS
Texas A&M owns a 213-30-6 (.867) 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 113-14-6 (.872) mark on the friendly pitch. Texas A&M is 220-30-6 (.871) all-time in College Station, going 7-0-0 in their one season at Old Tiger Field.
WINNING
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.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Aggies welcomed nine freshmen to the squad this season and they've made the immediate impact that was necessary for a strong start to the season. Emily Bates leads the squad with nine starts and Kate Hajdu and Ally Watt have eight starts apiece. Brittany Crabtree has received the starting assignment on seven occasions. Mia Hummel, Amethyst Kelly, Claudette Lassandro, Kendall Ritchie and Margaret Schmidt have all seen relief action.
Hajdu was named the SEC Freshman of the Week the opening weekend and Bates earned the honor for the fourth week of action. Bates ranks second on the team with 11 points on three goals and five assists. Hajdu has three goals and two assists. Crabtree has one goal and one assist and Lassandro has one goal on the season.
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 404-124-29 (.751), 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 16 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 13 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 1,000 of the 1,189 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 0.98 goals-against average and five 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 five matches, including two starts. She has yielded two goals, made 11 saves and owns a shutout against Mississippi State. 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 81 caps. She trails on Florida's Christen Westphal (84) among SEC players. Mueller has made 69 career starts and owns 18 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 13 matches for 1,189 minutes of play. Grace Wright (1,170), Haley Pounds (1,124), Ashlynn Harryman (1,113), Mikaela Harvey (1,106), Karlie Mueller (1,090) and Stephanie Malherbe (1,059) 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 69-16-5 over their four years, the third-best win total in the nation. Florida State's seniors are 75-8-5, followed by Virginia 72-9-4.
NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last three seasons, the Aggies are 24-6-4 in games decided by one game or less. This season, the Maroon and White are 3-2-0 in games decided by one goal or less. Last season, Texas A&M went 11-2-2 in one-goal games, including a pair of 2-1 victories in their run to the College Cup. The Aggies went 10-2-2 in the nail-biters in 2012, including all three of their wins en route to winning their first-ever SEC Tournament title.
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 Sunday when they travel to Alabama for a 2 pm match at the No. 8 Auburn Tigers.
Players Mentioned
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