SILVER SEASON SERIES: Evolution of Ellis
Oct 09, 2017 | Soccer
Humble Beginnings to 'Best Game Day Environment in the Country'
Drums are beating as confetti explodes into the sky, catching the light of the setting sun. Members of the Maroon Militia, the student organization for Aggie soccer fans, wave flags in the cool breeze as the Aggies take the field met by chants and roaring cheers.
From the 2-1 win over Penn State on November 29, 2014, that advanced Texas A&M to the program's first ever College Cup to last Friday's victory over Arkansas on Ally Watt's two goals, the Aggies have compiled a 237-35-9 record at Ellis Field.
One of the only college soccer venues to have seating all the way around the stadium, Ellis Field wasn't always the iconic venue it is today. Piece by piece it has transformed into a field that carries a national reputation.
"It's the best game day environment in the country," head coach G Guerrieri said.
He cited the active participation from fans—singing, swaying and the student body standing the whole game—as one reason why this is the case.
"We want people to come in and know that the 12th Man has got them surrounded," Guerrieri said. "I want our opponents to feel like Custer as he rode into Little Bighorn."
Twenty-five years ago, a much different reality existed for the home of Aggie Soccer.
Players started out practicing in 1993 on Simpson Drill Field, right across from the Memorial Student Center.
"I remember Bell Tower, buses and students walking through practice," Guerrieri said. "Distractions are what I remember as much as anything and telling the players, 'If you can concentrate out here, then you'll have no trouble concentrating if we play in front of a big crowd.'"
Guerrieri was offered Duncan Field and the Rugby Field.
But after doing some research, he finally found the place: Old Tiger Field, which is now Oakwood Middle School in College Station. The field was 65 feet wide and full of fire ants.
The young head coach went to the head groundskeeper at the time, Leo Goertz, who gave him three cans of ant killer and a large, spiky tool to use on the ant mounds.
"I used the three cans immediately and went back and got another 24 cans to use on the rest of the field," Guerrieri said.
After a season that saw the program go 7-0-1 at their makeshift home, preparations were made in 1994 for what is now Ellis Field.
Before Mark and Julia Ellis, whose daughter Sara was a midfielder on the Maroon & White, donated a seven-figure gift to the facility, Ellis Field was called the Aggie Soccer Complex.
"We had a small scoreboard and five little five-high bleachers, like you'd have at a park and two goals. That was it," Guerrieri said. "Louie Belina was our PA announcer. He would sit outside the door of the softball press box and look back out over soccer. He would announce the game from there."
The first game at Ellis Field was a 4-1 win over Mercer on September 13, 1994.
There were no lights or drainage yet. Often, flooding caused big games to be cancelled or moved to San Marcos.
Eventually, lights were added in 1997, drainage in 2001, and more seating encircling the field.
A press box and big scoreboard were added to the venue for the College Cup when Texas A&M was chosen as the host site in 2005, 2007 and 2009.
"We wanted to play in it and we thought that if we could make it and play at home, then we'd win the National Championship," Guerrieri said.
The Aggies have been to 14 Sweet Sixteens and six Elite Eights in the program's 25-year history.
Every year they hosted the College Cup, the talent was there, the dream was there, but the timing just wasn't right.
In 2014, everything lined up.
After a 2-1 win over Notre Dame that advanced the Aggies to the Elite Eight on November 23, the stage was set. The Aggies were facing Penn State at Ellis Field.
"Coming off the field [after Notre Dame] everyone was just in tears," former Aggie All-American Shea Groom said. "We knew that we had conquered a level that we hadn't conquered before."
Kyle Field had just hosted LSU on Thanksgiving and many students went home for the holidays.
"I was really worried if we were going to have anybody at the biggest game in the program's history to date," Guerrieri said. "But, it sold out. It was the town folk who came. All the time and all the investment that our players had made going into the community and doing so many service projects, came back in spades, especially that night."
Allie Bailey, who scored the two biggest goals in Ellis Field history, notched her first goal of the game about five or six minutes in.
The crowd went wild. Penn State's goalie got injured trying to save the ball in the post.
On her second goal, Bailey resolved to do whatever it took to get the ball to go in.
The Aggies led for 45 minutes before Penn State silenced the crowd with an equalizer. After taking that body blow, Texas A&M regrouped and started using the wind to their advantage. A steady attack paid off in the 58th minute. Penn State was unable to clear an attack allowing Bianca Brinson to knock a ball into the six-yard box. Bailey, muscled her way past, one Penn State defender, toed the ball past a charging keeper and it deflected off another Nittany Lion defender into the goal for the 2-1 advantage.
"I wasn't going to stop until I got something on it or the goalie picked it up," Bailey said. "I just remember the fans behind the goal going nuts. Of course, whenever anyone on our team scored, a big goal especially, everyone would run over and celebrate together."
Coast to coast, former Aggie soccer players also celebrated the news.
Now recognized as one of the most elite atmospheres in the sport, the current Aggie team plays on a field of much history, while making history of their own.
"Huge, huge wins that have clinched championships, that have advanced us in the NCAA Tournament and milestone moments in the progression of the program over the years, almost all of them can be marked with things that happened at Ellis," Guerrieri said.
Beating Texas when they were No. 1 in the nation, defeating Virginia in the Sweet 16, triumphing over Nebraska in 1997 to win the university's first Big 12 Championship and the nine conference regular-season titles and seven conference tournament crowns stand out.
Guerrieri was there when the Aggies eclipsed the NCAA attendance record of 8,204 and beat North Carolina in double overtime on August 25, 2006.
He was also there on Halloween in 2013 when the Aggies earned a share of their first ever SEC regular-season championship, winning 3-2 over LSU.
Then, nearly a year later on October 30, he led the team to a 2-1 win over Georgia to garner the SEC regular-season-championship for the second-straight year.
Freshman defender Jimena Lopez, who scored in her first two games as an Aggie earlier this season, has competed in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games, played on Mexican Youth National Teams since 2012 and also, represented Mexico in the FIFA U17 World Cup.
"I've played in stadiums with a lot of people," Lopez said. "But most times, those people are against me, so it's nice to have a big crowd supporting the team I play on."
From playing professionally and working at NBC Universal in Los Angeles to calling games for the SEC Network after graduation and currently working at NWA Film Media in New York, Bailey, too, has seen a lot in the realm of soccer since starting at age five.
"I've never left the game," Bailey said. "I don't think I ever will, but playing at Ellis Field is hands down the best place to play if you're a women's college soccer player."
Through the years, Ellis Field still maintains a place in her heart.
"Every time I come back to watch the games, especially the night games under the lights, I always feel a sense of like, 'This is a part of me,'" Bailey said. "No matter what really changes whether there's construction or new banners or new posters, it'll always have that sense of home for us and that special spirit that the 12th Man really gave us when we played there."
Although Groom plays professionally now for FC Kansas City, she said she still thinks about playing at Ellis Field from time to time, too.
"It's just raw and authentic," Groom said. "As much energy as there was, it's always a calming place for me to be."
With the atmosphere and electricity in the air, many coaches have told Guerrieri that it was a great experience for their players whether they won or lost the game.
The special atmosphere at Ellis Field also helps with recruiting.
Groom, who is originally from Missouri where she now plays professional soccer, went on 14 college trips, but instantly felt at home in Aggieland.
"From the second I got on campus and got to experience the Aggie tradition, the family and just what it really means to be an Aggie, I wanted to be a part of it," Groom said. "The fight that every sports team brought, every fan brought to every atmosphere was absolutely incredible."
Aside from getting some land from intramurals, the installation of the lights by former athletic director Wally Groff and the press box put in by former athletic director Bill Byrne, Guerrieri said the money has been raised by Aggie soccer families and former players exclusively.
"The good news is that we knew we needed more, so our families and the 12th Man Foundation helped us to step up and raise the money," Guerrieri said.
Guerrieri said the program has hopes to expand with a few projects in mind.
From humble beginnings to emerging as one of the finest places to play in college soccer, undoubtedly Ellis Field will continue to evolve and showcase top soccer talent in front of the 12th Man.
"It's a professional setting because you're here playing soccer, you're here to win," sophomore forward Cienna Arrieta said. "But also, it's showcasing everything that you've [worked for]. Ten plus years of playing soccer, from like a little girl to now. This is where you showcase it."
From the 2-1 win over Penn State on November 29, 2014, that advanced Texas A&M to the program's first ever College Cup to last Friday's victory over Arkansas on Ally Watt's two goals, the Aggies have compiled a 237-35-9 record at Ellis Field.
One of the only college soccer venues to have seating all the way around the stadium, Ellis Field wasn't always the iconic venue it is today. Piece by piece it has transformed into a field that carries a national reputation.
"It's the best game day environment in the country," head coach G Guerrieri said.
He cited the active participation from fans—singing, swaying and the student body standing the whole game—as one reason why this is the case.
"We want people to come in and know that the 12th Man has got them surrounded," Guerrieri said. "I want our opponents to feel like Custer as he rode into Little Bighorn."
Twenty-five years ago, a much different reality existed for the home of Aggie Soccer.
Players started out practicing in 1993 on Simpson Drill Field, right across from the Memorial Student Center.
"I remember Bell Tower, buses and students walking through practice," Guerrieri said. "Distractions are what I remember as much as anything and telling the players, 'If you can concentrate out here, then you'll have no trouble concentrating if we play in front of a big crowd.'"
Guerrieri was offered Duncan Field and the Rugby Field.
But after doing some research, he finally found the place: Old Tiger Field, which is now Oakwood Middle School in College Station. The field was 65 feet wide and full of fire ants.
The young head coach went to the head groundskeeper at the time, Leo Goertz, who gave him three cans of ant killer and a large, spiky tool to use on the ant mounds.
"I used the three cans immediately and went back and got another 24 cans to use on the rest of the field," Guerrieri said.
After a season that saw the program go 7-0-1 at their makeshift home, preparations were made in 1994 for what is now Ellis Field.
Before Mark and Julia Ellis, whose daughter Sara was a midfielder on the Maroon & White, donated a seven-figure gift to the facility, Ellis Field was called the Aggie Soccer Complex.
"We had a small scoreboard and five little five-high bleachers, like you'd have at a park and two goals. That was it," Guerrieri said. "Louie Belina was our PA announcer. He would sit outside the door of the softball press box and look back out over soccer. He would announce the game from there."
The first game at Ellis Field was a 4-1 win over Mercer on September 13, 1994.
There were no lights or drainage yet. Often, flooding caused big games to be cancelled or moved to San Marcos.
Eventually, lights were added in 1997, drainage in 2001, and more seating encircling the field.
A press box and big scoreboard were added to the venue for the College Cup when Texas A&M was chosen as the host site in 2005, 2007 and 2009.
"We wanted to play in it and we thought that if we could make it and play at home, then we'd win the National Championship," Guerrieri said.
The Aggies have been to 14 Sweet Sixteens and six Elite Eights in the program's 25-year history.
Every year they hosted the College Cup, the talent was there, the dream was there, but the timing just wasn't right.
In 2014, everything lined up.
After a 2-1 win over Notre Dame that advanced the Aggies to the Elite Eight on November 23, the stage was set. The Aggies were facing Penn State at Ellis Field.
"Coming off the field [after Notre Dame] everyone was just in tears," former Aggie All-American Shea Groom said. "We knew that we had conquered a level that we hadn't conquered before."
Kyle Field had just hosted LSU on Thanksgiving and many students went home for the holidays.
"I was really worried if we were going to have anybody at the biggest game in the program's history to date," Guerrieri said. "But, it sold out. It was the town folk who came. All the time and all the investment that our players had made going into the community and doing so many service projects, came back in spades, especially that night."
Allie Bailey, who scored the two biggest goals in Ellis Field history, notched her first goal of the game about five or six minutes in.
The crowd went wild. Penn State's goalie got injured trying to save the ball in the post.
On her second goal, Bailey resolved to do whatever it took to get the ball to go in.
The Aggies led for 45 minutes before Penn State silenced the crowd with an equalizer. After taking that body blow, Texas A&M regrouped and started using the wind to their advantage. A steady attack paid off in the 58th minute. Penn State was unable to clear an attack allowing Bianca Brinson to knock a ball into the six-yard box. Bailey, muscled her way past, one Penn State defender, toed the ball past a charging keeper and it deflected off another Nittany Lion defender into the goal for the 2-1 advantage.
"I wasn't going to stop until I got something on it or the goalie picked it up," Bailey said. "I just remember the fans behind the goal going nuts. Of course, whenever anyone on our team scored, a big goal especially, everyone would run over and celebrate together."
Coast to coast, former Aggie soccer players also celebrated the news.
Now recognized as one of the most elite atmospheres in the sport, the current Aggie team plays on a field of much history, while making history of their own.
"Huge, huge wins that have clinched championships, that have advanced us in the NCAA Tournament and milestone moments in the progression of the program over the years, almost all of them can be marked with things that happened at Ellis," Guerrieri said.
Beating Texas when they were No. 1 in the nation, defeating Virginia in the Sweet 16, triumphing over Nebraska in 1997 to win the university's first Big 12 Championship and the nine conference regular-season titles and seven conference tournament crowns stand out.
Guerrieri was there when the Aggies eclipsed the NCAA attendance record of 8,204 and beat North Carolina in double overtime on August 25, 2006.
He was also there on Halloween in 2013 when the Aggies earned a share of their first ever SEC regular-season championship, winning 3-2 over LSU.
Then, nearly a year later on October 30, he led the team to a 2-1 win over Georgia to garner the SEC regular-season-championship for the second-straight year.
Freshman defender Jimena Lopez, who scored in her first two games as an Aggie earlier this season, has competed in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games, played on Mexican Youth National Teams since 2012 and also, represented Mexico in the FIFA U17 World Cup.
"I've played in stadiums with a lot of people," Lopez said. "But most times, those people are against me, so it's nice to have a big crowd supporting the team I play on."
From playing professionally and working at NBC Universal in Los Angeles to calling games for the SEC Network after graduation and currently working at NWA Film Media in New York, Bailey, too, has seen a lot in the realm of soccer since starting at age five.
"I've never left the game," Bailey said. "I don't think I ever will, but playing at Ellis Field is hands down the best place to play if you're a women's college soccer player."
Through the years, Ellis Field still maintains a place in her heart.
"Every time I come back to watch the games, especially the night games under the lights, I always feel a sense of like, 'This is a part of me,'" Bailey said. "No matter what really changes whether there's construction or new banners or new posters, it'll always have that sense of home for us and that special spirit that the 12th Man really gave us when we played there."
Although Groom plays professionally now for FC Kansas City, she said she still thinks about playing at Ellis Field from time to time, too.
"It's just raw and authentic," Groom said. "As much energy as there was, it's always a calming place for me to be."
With the atmosphere and electricity in the air, many coaches have told Guerrieri that it was a great experience for their players whether they won or lost the game.
The special atmosphere at Ellis Field also helps with recruiting.
Groom, who is originally from Missouri where she now plays professional soccer, went on 14 college trips, but instantly felt at home in Aggieland.
"From the second I got on campus and got to experience the Aggie tradition, the family and just what it really means to be an Aggie, I wanted to be a part of it," Groom said. "The fight that every sports team brought, every fan brought to every atmosphere was absolutely incredible."
Aside from getting some land from intramurals, the installation of the lights by former athletic director Wally Groff and the press box put in by former athletic director Bill Byrne, Guerrieri said the money has been raised by Aggie soccer families and former players exclusively.
"The good news is that we knew we needed more, so our families and the 12th Man Foundation helped us to step up and raise the money," Guerrieri said.
Guerrieri said the program has hopes to expand with a few projects in mind.
From humble beginnings to emerging as one of the finest places to play in college soccer, undoubtedly Ellis Field will continue to evolve and showcase top soccer talent in front of the 12th Man.
"It's a professional setting because you're here playing soccer, you're here to win," sophomore forward Cienna Arrieta said. "But also, it's showcasing everything that you've [worked for]. Ten plus years of playing soccer, from like a little girl to now. This is where you showcase it."
Players Mentioned
Media Availability: Bobby Shuttleworth
Thursday, December 11
Weekly Press Conference: G Guerrieri
Thursday, October 23
The Aggie Soccer Hour (Ep 7)
Wednesday, October 22
Mizzou Postgame: G Guerrieri, Bella Yakel, Kaylee Noble
Thursday, October 16
