Match Day Preview: NCAA Championship First Round

Friday, November 13

College Station

7:00 PM

Texas A&M

Washington

Tickets

Nov 12, 2015 | Soccer

The Matchup:	Washington (12-6-2) at Texas A&M (15-6-1) - NCAA First Round
Kickoff:	Friday, Nov. 13 - 7:05 p.m. CST
Venue:	Ellis Field (3,500)
Watch:	SEC Network + (David Ellis, Allie Bailey) \| WatchESPN
Listen:	Fusion FM 95.1-2 (Matt Callaway, Casey Atnip \| 12thman.com
Live Stats:	Click Here
Game Notes:	Texas A&M \| Washington \| SEC \| Pac-12
NCAA Bracket:	Interactive \| Printable

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M Aggies begin the quest for their second consecutive College Cup bid on Friday as they host the Washington Huskies in an NCAA Championship first round match at Ellis Field. The Aggies have been fantastic at Ellis Field in the post-season, logging a 24-4-1 record, including nine consecutive victories and wins in 15 of their last 16.

Making their 21st consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, the fifth-lengthiest active streak, the Aggies are looking to advance to the second round for the 17th consecutive year, going 15-0-2 in their opening match over the span, including advancing on PKs against SMU in 2003 and North Dakota State in 2010.

The Aggies' offensive arsenal is paced by two sophomores and two freshmen. Second-year players Haley Pounds and Mikaela Harvey have 28 and 16 points, respectively. Pounds leads the team with 12 points and four assists and Harvey has six goals and four assists. Rookies Emily Bates and Ally Watt have 20 and 12 points, respectively. Bates has seven goals and six assists, and Watt boasts six goals, all in SEC action.

A&M STUDENT TICKET SPECIAL
Due to the kindness of the Aggie Soccer Club, Texas A&M students who present their ID at the student entrance will receive free admission to Friday evening's contest.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.AggieAthletics.com, in person at the Zone at Kyle Field box office, or over the phone at 1-888-99-AGGIE. Tickets purchased on-line or over the phone will be delivered via Flash Seats. The card used for purchase of tickets will be swiped at the gate for admission. Fans may purchase reserved tickets for $18 (West Midfield), $15 (West Sideline) or $9 (West Goal Line), or can buy general admission tickets for $7 (Adult) or $3 (Youth or Student). Children two-and-under will be admitted free.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
The match will be available digitally on mobile devices, tablets, PCs and connect-TVs for SEC Network subscribers whose cable/satellite packages allow access to SEC Network+ content through the WatchESPN app and SECSports.com. The match can be heard on the RadioAggieland app, RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com. The match may be heard on Fusion FM - HD2 on HD radio at 95.1-2 FM locally.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Aggies are playing in their 21st consecutive NCAA Championship, one of five teams to play in each of the last 21 tournaments. The other schools to make it to every tournament since 1995 are North Carolina (1982-2015), Notre Dame (1993-2015), Virginia (1994-2015) and Penn State (1995-2015). A&M is 31-19-4 (.611) all-time in the NCAA Championship. The Aggies have appeared in the Sweet 16 on 13 occasions, advanced to the Elite Eight five times and made their first College Cup appearance last season.

Since 1999, Texas A&M has made 12 Sweet Sixteen appearances which is tied with Stanford for fifth in the nation for highest total during that span. The Aggies trail only North Carolina (17), UCLA (16), Virginia (15), and Florida State (14) over that stretch.

Sweet 16 - 1995, '99, 2000, '01, '02 '03, '05, '06, '08, '09, '12, ' 13, '14
Elite Eight - 2001, '02, '06, '08, '14
College Cup - 2014

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ACTION AT ELLIS FIELD
The Aggies have been a tough opponent to handle in NCAA Championship action at Ellis Field. A&M owns a 24-4-1 (.845) record and the Maroon and White have advanced to the next round on 25 of 29 opportunities when playing on the friendly confines. The Aggies lost two of the first three NCAA Championship games at Ellis Field, against San Diego (5-3) in 1997 and SMU (1-0) in 1998. Since 1999, A&M has gone 23-2-1 (.904) and the Maroon and White have won their last nine NCAA Championship matches at Ellis Field and 15 of their last 16. The last NCAA Championship loss for the Aggies at Ellis Field came against Texas (3-2) in 2007.

TEXAS A&M EXTENDS LENGTHIEST ACTIVE 15-WIN SEASON STREAK
With the win against LSU in the SEC Tournament semifinal, the Aggies reached the 15-win mark for the 12th consecutive season. 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 entering the year 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
* - have reached 15-win mark in 2015

ADVANCING TO GOOD COMPANY
Texas A&M has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship in each of their last 17 appearances. It marks the fourth-longest active streak behind only North Carolina (33), Virginia (21) and UCLA (18). The Maroon and White have gone 15-0-2 during the span, advancing on PKs in 2003 (vs. SMU) and 2010 (vs. North Dakota State).

Since 1999, Texas A&M has made 12 Sweet Sixteen appearances which is tied with Stanford for fifth in the nation for highest total during that span. The Aggies trail only North Carolina (17), UCLA (16), Virginia (15), and Florida State (14) over that stretch.

LAST TIME OUT - FLORIDA
They came up short in their bid to win three consecutive SEC Tournament titles, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Florida Gators. The Aggies jumped on top midway through the first half with a fine piece of passing that found Mikaela Harvey and Emily Bates setting up Haley Pounds for her 12th goal of the season. Despite playing solid defense in the flow of play, the Aggies went into the intermission trailing, 2-1, after the Gators scored on two set pieces. Florida scored on a corner kick in the 28th minute and added a free kick goal in the 43rd minute. The rains and winds came in the second half, dampening A&M's comeback bid.

SERIES VS. WASHINGTON
The Aggies are 4-0 all-time against the Washington Huskies, including a 3-1 victory in the 2008 NCAA Championship at Ellis Field. The last regular-season meeting came in 2005, a 6-0 Texas A&M victory in Knoxville. The Aggies won a 2-1 overtime decision in College Station in 2002 and a 1-0 victory in Seattle in 2001, both victories came with Hope Solo in goal for the Huskies.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON
The Huskies are making their 14th NCAA Championship appearance, including earning their second consecutive bid. The Huskies made it to the Sweet Sixteen last season before falling to Stanford in Palo Alto.

Three Huskies earned All-Pac-12 honors, including McKenzie Karas on the First Team and Kimberly Keever and Shannon Simon on the Second Team. Karas stars on the Huskies' backline helping Washington to six shutouts on the season and earned Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Week recognition on October 12. Keever ranks second on the team with six goals. Simon leads the Aggies with 19 points on seven goals and five assists. She was named Pac 12 Offensive Player of the Week on September 14 and was named Offensive MVP of the Husky Nike Invitational and the Nike Portland Invitational.

Megan Kufeld has played 1,787 of 1,877 minutes in goal for Washington, logging a 0.96 goals-against average, 74 saves and five shutouts.

PENALTY KICK HISTORY
With their penalty kick shootout against Texas Tech in last season's NCAA Championship second round, the Aggies came out on the top end of their ninth consecutive shootout. Six of the nine advances have come in NCAA Tournament play, including the 2002 NCAA Sweet 16 in which A&M scored a decision against UCLA despite not recording a shot in the 110 minutes of game action. Rachel Lenz made a penalty kick in each of the last four shootouts, including the 2010 Big 12 Quarterfinal against Colorado, NCAA First Round against North Dakota State, 2011 Big 12 Quarterfinal against Kansas and Friday's NCAA Second Round against Texas Tech.

Three current Aggies took part in last year's shootout against Texas Tech with Allie Bailey making the opening kick, followed by successful attempts by Meghan Streight and Kristi Leonard as A&M advanced 5-3.

In the 2011 Big 12 Quarterfinal against Kansas, Bailey, Annie Kunz and Streight started the Aggies' out with three straight makes en route to prevailing 5-3.

EVERYBODY IS DOING IT
With Danielle Rice's two shutouts in the SEC Tournament, Texas A&M became the first SEC team to have five different goalkeepers record multiple shutouts over a two year span. In 2014, Renee McDermott logged four shutouts and Jordan Day notched three shutouts (all in the SEC Tournament). The Aggies had goalkeepers combine on two other shutouts during the year. This season, Mia Hummel leads the squad with four shutouts and Taylor Saucier and Rice have two apiece. The Aggies also have two combined shutouts in 2015.

                Shutouts in 2014 and 2015
                Player (Year)     Shutouts
                Renee McDermott (2014)            4
                Mia Hummel (2015)        4
                Jordan Day (2014)            3
                Taylor Saucier (2014-15)                2
                Danielle Rice (2015)         2
                Combined shutouts        4
                Total      19

RICE'S SUCCESSFUL DEBUT
Danielle Rice has been outstanding in her first two outings. In the regular-season finale, she entered the contest in the 69th minute with the score tied 1-1 against Missouri and made four saves, including a PK stop in the second overtime period to stave off defeat. In her first career A&M start, Rice posted a shutout in the Aggies' SEC Tournament quarterfinal win against Ole Miss and followed with a shutout in her next game, a 1-0 win against LSU. She spent her first two seasons at Creighton where she started all 36 games during her career, logging eight shutouts.

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 409-127-30 (.749), 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 (793), Connecticut's Len Tsantiris (543), Florida's Becky Burleigh (453) and Santa Clara's Jerry Smith (437).

HUMMEL RACKING UP SHUTOUTS
Despite not starting three league contests, freshman Mia Hummel shared the SEC lead for most shutouts in conference action (four) with Ole Miss's Marnie Merritt. The rookie goalkeeper recorded league shutouts against Mississippi State, Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas.

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 22 games, the same 11 returnees have notched 27 goals and 23 assists (77 points).

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 group with 17 starts followed by Kate Hajdu with 15 starts. Ally Watt has 13 starts followed by Brittany Crabtree with eight. Kendall Ritchie has four starts and Claudette Lassandro made her first career start in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal. Amethyst Kelly and Margaret Schmidt have all seen relief action. Mia Hummel has eight starts in goal for the Aggies.

Hajdu was named SEC Freshman of the Week the opening weekend, Bates earned the honor for the fourth week of action and Watt earned the award after A&M's 1-0 win at Kentucky. Bates ranks second on the team with 20 points on seven goals and six assists. Watt has six goals on the year, all in SEC play. Hajdu has three goals and three assists. Crabtree has two goals and one assist. Lassandro has one goal and Schmidt has one assist on the season.

2015 ROSTER
The Aggies' 21-player roster features three seniors, four juniors, one redshirt sophomore, four sophomores and nine true freshmen. The team returns three players who started at least 50 percent of last year's matches (Janae Cousineau, Karlie Mueller and McKayla Paulson) and eight players who started at least one match.

MUELLER AMONG ACTIVE LEADERS IN GAMES PLAYED
After missing the match against Kentucky due to a vicious elbow to the head sustained against Auburn, Texas A&M senior Karlie Mueller fell to 11th in the nation and third among SEC players in career matches played with 89 caps. She trails on Florida's Christen Westphal (93) and Claire Falknor (90) among SEC players. Mueller has made 77 career starts and owns 20 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.

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 this season. The quartet accounted for 18 goals and 12 assists for 48 points on the season. Haley Pounds has produced 28 points with 12 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. Mikaela Harvey has 16 points on six goals and four assists. 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.

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 10 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 11 matches, including eight starts. She has yielded nine goals, made 24 saves and owns shutouts against Mississippi State, Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas. Hummel and Saucier combined to record shutouts against Northwestern State and UC Irvine. Danielle Rice saw her first action in the regular-season finale registering four saves in 41 blank minutes, including making a save on a penalty kick to stave off defeat. In the SEC Tournament quarterfinal, Rice recorded her first shutout at A&M with a 2-0 blanking against Ole Miss and she followed with a 1-0 shutout against LSU.

AGGIES SET SINGLE-SEASON RECORD WIN TOTAL IN 2014
With their 2-1 win against Notre Dame in the NCAA Championship third round, the Aggies set a new school record with their 21st victory of the season, eclipsing the 20 wins amassed in 2002. That season, the Aggies finished 20-5-1, advancing to the NCAA Championship quarterfinal round. In 2002, teams were credited with wins if they prevailed in a penalty kick shootout situation. A&M won two penalty kick shootouts during the 2002 NCAA Championship. The Aggies finished the season 22-3-2 and own an .852 winning percentage. A&M's school-record for best winning percentage in a season is 1997 when they finished 18-3 (.857). Last year, the Maroon and White set a new school-record for matches played in a season with 27. The prior record was 26 set in 2002.

IRON AGGIES
Prior to exiting the contest with an injury in the 15th minute of the SEC Tournament semifinal, McKayla Paulson was the only Aggie to play every second of the 2015 campaign. With 1,853 minutes played, Paulson has since been passed by Mikaela Harvey (1,903), Ashlynn Harryman (1,900) and Haley Pounds (1,878) on the Aggies' list. Stephanie Malherbe (1,805) and Karlie Mueller (1,785) are all averaging over 80 minutes per Texas A&M match.

WINNING
With their win against Alabama on October 9, the Aggies guaranteed themselves their 23rd consecutive winning season - the entirety of their life as a program. The closest the Aggies have finished to the .500 mark is the 14-8 (.636) record they posted in 1998.

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 74-19-6 over their four years, the third-best win total in the nation. Florida State's seniors are 79-9-8, followed by Virginia 79-9-5.

The trio needs one more win to equal the school record for most wins by a class set by last season's seniors. The 2014 seniors went 75-19-7.

NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last three seasons, the Aggies are 27-8-5 in games decided by one game or less. This season, the Maroon and White are 6-4-1 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.

ELLIS FIELD WIN STREAK
In the final regular-season home match, the Aggies had a 14-match home win streak snapped. The stretch included nine wins at Ellis Field in 2015 and four wins at the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M was also unbeaten in 17 consecutive matches at Ellis Field, going 16-0-1 during the span.

The stretch was the sixth-longest in school history. 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
                6              10/30/2014 to 10/23/2015            14
                                * - first seven matches of streak played at Old Tiger Stadium

MAKING ELLIS FIELD A FORTRESS
The Aggies are 31-2-1 in their last 34 home matches dating back to September 13, 2013. In the 34 matches, the Maroon and White are outscoring opponents 101-28, including 17 shutouts.

MORE ELLIS FIELD NOTES
Texas A&M owns a 215-31-6 (.865) 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 115-15-6 (.868) mark on the friendly pitch. Texas A&M is 222-31-6 (.869) all-time in College Station, going 7-0-0 in their one season at Old Tiger Field.

CONSISTENT SUCCESS
G Guerrieri and North Carolina's Anson Dorrance are the only two coaches to appear in every NCAA Championship since 1995.

TOURNAMENT SUCCESS AGAINST THE PAC 12
The Aggies have faced Pac 12 Conference competition in the NCAA Championship on six occasions, advancing five times. Texas A&M has played a Pac 12 team in each of the last two tournaments, needing a goal by Allie Bailey in overtime to beat Utah, 1-0, in 2013 and toppling Arizona, 7-2, last season.

2000       at UCLA….. L, 0-4 - Second Round
2001       at Stanford….. W, 1-0 - Sweet 16
2002       at UCLA…. 3ot - W, 1-0 - Sweet 16
2008       WASHINGTON….. W, 3-1 - Second Round
2013       UTAH….. 1ot - W, 1-0 - First Round
2014       ARIZONA….. W, 7-2 - Second Round

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 winner will play the winner of the North Carolina-Liberty match next weekend at a yet to be determined location.