Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Match Day Preview: NCAA Championship Third Round
Nov 21, 2015 | Soccer
CLEMSON, South Carolina - The Texas A&M Aggies face a familiar foe as they play for a ticket to their sixth Elite Eight appearance Sunday afternoon at Riggs Field. The No. 21 Aggies will face the No. 24 Ole Miss Rebels for the third time in four weeks. Ole Miss topped the Aggies 4-3 on October 25 in A&M's regular-season home finale. The Maroon and White topped the Rebels, 2-0, in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal on November 4 in Orange Beach, Alabama.
The Aggies advanced to their 14th Sweet Sixteen appearance with a 1-0 win over the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday, sending UNC home before the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history - a string of 33 consecutive seasons. Ole Miss advanced to their first-ever Sweet Sixteen by besting Clemson in a penalty kick shootout, 5-4, in seven rounds after the teams played to a 1-1 draw through 110 minutes.
Texas A&M is looking to advance to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season and the sixth time in program history.
The Aggies' offensive arsenal is paced by two sophomores and two freshmen. Second-year players Haley Pounds and Mikaela Harvey have 31 and 16 points, respectively. Pounds leads the team with 13 goals and five assists and Harvey has six goals and four assists. Rookies Emily Bates and Ally Watt have 20 and 14 points, respectively. Bates has seven goals and six assists, and Watt boasts seven goals, including the game-winner against North Carolina.
On the defensive end, Danielle Rice is coming off her third shutout in five starts and she combined with the Aggie backline to keep North Carolina scoreless in an NCAA Championship game for just the eighth time in 135 matches.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
The match can be heard on the RadioAggieland app, RadioAggieland.com and 12thMan.com. The match may be heard on SportsRadio 1150/102.7 The Zone locally. NO TELEVISION OR VIDEO STREAMING FOR THE MATCH.
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 (1982-2014), Notre Dame (1993-2014), Virginia (1994-2014) and Penn State (1995-2014). A&M is 33-20-4 (.614) all-time in the NCAA Championship. The Aggies are appearing in the Sweet 16 for the 14 time. The Maroon and White have advanced to the Elite Eight five times and made their first College Cup appearance last season.
Since 1999, Texas A&M has made 13 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 (16), UCLA (16), Virginia (16), and Florida State (15) over that stretch.
Sweet Sixteen (14) - 1995, '99, 2000, '01, '02 '03, '05, '06, '08, '09, '12, '13, '14, '15
Elite Eight (5) - 2001, '02, '06, '08, '14
College Cup (1) - 2014
ADVANCING TO GOOD COMPANY
Texas A&M has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship in each of their last 18 appearances. It marks the third-longest active streak behind only North Carolina (34) and Virginia (22). The Maroon and White have gone 16-0-2 during the span, advancing on PKs in 2003 (vs. SMU) and 2010 (vs. North Dakota State).
Since 1999, Texas A&M has made 13 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 (16), UCLA (16), Virginia (16), and Florida State (15) over that stretch.
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
LAST TIME OUT - NORTH CAROLINA
The Aggies registered an historic win over North Carolina, 1-0, in an NCAA Championship second round match. Texas A&M handed the Tar Heels just their 11th defeat and eight shutout in 135 matches over the 34 years of the tournament. The Aggies also snapped North Carolina's 33-year string of advancing to the NCAA Championship Sweet Sixteen, covering the entirety of the tournament. Ally Watt got the Aggies on the scoreboard notching a goal with the help of a dummy run from Emily Bates. It marked her seventh goal of the season. Texas A&M fought off the Tar Heels for the remainder of the game, getting outshot 14-7 by North Carolina who also head a 5-0 edge in corner kicks. The Aggies' defense did hold North Carolina to just three shots-on-goal with Rice making clean saves on all three efforts.
SERIES VS. OLE MISS
The Aggies are 4-1-0 all-time against Ole Miss with all the meetings coming since Texas A&M joined the SEC.
In the regular-season meeting this year, Ole Miss won a see-saw affair, 4-3, in College Station. The Rebels drew first blood in the second minute and took a 2-1 lead into the intermission. Haley Pounds scored on a penalty kick and corner kick midway through the second half to give A&M a 3-2 lead. Ole Miss's CeCe Kizer scored a pair of goals in a 71 second span as the Rebels reclaimed the lead with 19 minutes remaining.
The Maroon and White bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal with goals from Ally Watt and Emily Bates and a shutout by Danielle Rice in her first career Aggie start in goal.
In 2012, the Aggies traveled to Oxford to play then-No. 22 Ole Miss and came away with a 4-0 win. Annie Kunz knocked in a pair of goals and Shea Groom and Allie Bailey each scored once while Jordan Day made seven saves in the shutout. Last season, the Aggies scored a 2-1 win over then-No. 23 Ole Miss with Bianca Brinson scoring an unassisted goal and Groom punching in a penalty kick. Last season, the A&M registered a come-from-behind, 2-1, win in Oxford. Maddie Friedmann scored in the 62nd minute to give Ole Miss a 1-0 lead. Bailey scored an equalizer in the 72nd minute and Groom tacked on the game-winner in the 79th minute.
SCOUTING OLE MISS
The Rebels enter the fray with a 14-5-3 record, advancing to their first-ever Sweet Sixteen by prevailing in a penalty kick shootout over Clemson. Ole Miss was one of the hottest teams in the SEC down the home stretch, winning eight of nine matches heading into the regular-season finale. The Rebels stumbled a bit, dropping the finale, 1-0, against Vanderbilt and losing to Texas A&M in the SEC Quarterfinal, 1-0. Ole Miss bounced back with a 1-0 win against Murray State in the NCAA Championship first round.
The Rebels' defense has been tough to penetrate in the first half, yielding just six goals and outscoring opponents, 18-6. Ole Miss has fared well in overtime affairs, going 3-0-3.
The Rebels feature a two-headed scoring threat, featuring CeCe Kizer and Addie Forbus. Kizer has 29 points with a team-high 14 goals and one assist. Forbus has 29 points on 11 goals and seven assists. Gretchen Harknett has 17 points with five goals and seven assists. Marnie Merritt has started all 22 matches in goal, logging 2,041 of the 2,083 minutes. She owns a 1.10 goals-against average with 87 saves and seven 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.
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 successful season. Emily Bates leads the group with 19 starts followed by Kate Hajdu with 17 starts. Ally Watt has 15 starts followed by Brittany Crabtree with nine. On the backline, Kendall Ritchie has six starts and Margaret Schmidt has three starts. Claudette Lassandro made her first career start in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal. Amethyst Kelly has seen relief action in eight matches. 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 seven goals on the year, including six SEC play and one in the 1-0 win over North Carolina. Hajdu has four goals and three assists. Crabtree has two goals and one assist. Lassandro has one goal and Schmidt has one assist on the season.
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 followed by Rice with three and Taylor Saucier with two. The Aggies also have two combined shutouts in 2015.
Shutouts in 2014 and 2015
Renee McDermott (2014) 4
Mia Hummel (2015) 4
Jordan Day (2014) 3
Taylor Saucier (2014-15) 2
Danielle Rice (2015) 3
Combined shutouts 4
Total 20
RICE'S SUCCESSFUL DEBUT
Danielle Rice has been outstanding in her first six 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. Rice also started the Aggies' 2-1 win against Washington in the NCAA Championship first round and registered just the eighth shutout against North Carolina in 135 NCAA Championship matches in the Aggies' 1-0 victory in the second round. She owns a 0.55 goals-against average, three shutouts and 14 saves in 491 minutes of action. 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 411-127-30 (.750), 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 (794), Connecticut's Len Tsantiris (545), Florida's Becky Burleigh (455) and Santa Clara's Jerry Smith (438).
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 24 games, the same 11 returnees have notched 28 goals and 25 assists (81 points).
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 off the pace, but she still ranks to 10th in the nation and third among SEC players in career matches played with 91 caps. She trails on Florida's Christen Westphal (95) and Claire Falknor (92) among SEC players. Mueller has made 78 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 23 goals and 14 assists for 60 points on the season. Haley Pounds has produced 31 points with 13 goals and five 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 0.94 goals-against average and 11 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. She added a 1-0 shutout against No. 8 North Carolina in NCAA Championship second round action. For the season, Rice has an 0.55 goals-against average, 14 saves and three shutouts.
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. Paulson has since missed two matches. Mikaela Harvey now leads the team with 2,083 minutes. Haley Pounds (2,058), Ashlynn Harryman (2,018), Stephanie Malherbe (1,985), Karlie Mueller (1,975) and Paulson (1,915) are all averaging over 80 minutes per Texas A&M match.
Harryman, Harvey, Malherbe and Pounds are the lone Aggies to start all 24 matches in 2015.
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 76-19-6 over their four years, the third-best win total in the nation. Florida State's seniors are 81-9-8, followed by Virginia 81-9-5.
The trio has set the school record for wins by a class over a four-year span, topping last season's seniors who went 75-19-7 during their time in College Station.
NIP-AND-TUCK
Over the last three seasons, the Aggies are 29-8-5 in games decided by one game or less. This season, the Maroon and White are 8-4-1 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.
WE MEET AGAIN
The Aggies play Ole Miss for the third time in 2015. Texas A&M has played the same opponent in the same year on three prior occasions. In 1995, the Aggies lost to SMU in the regular-season (3-1), the Southwest Conference Tournament (4-2 - ot) and the NCAA Championship (2-1). In 1998, Texas A&M lost decisions to Nebraska in the regular-season (2-0), the Big 12 Championship (3-2 - 3ot) and the NCAA Championship (7-0). In 2007, the Maroon and White beat Texas in the regular-season (2-0), but lost to the Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship (2-1) and the NCAA Championship (3-2).
CONSISTENT SUCCESS
G Guerrieri and North Carolina's Anson Dorrance are the only two coaches to appear in every NCAA Championship since 1995.
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UP NEXT
The winner will play the victor of the Auburn-Florida State game next weekend in either Auburn, Alabama or Tallahassee Florida.
