Texas A&M
Notre Dame
Match Preview: NCAA Championship Second Round vs. Notre Dame
Nov 16, 2017 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies look to advance to their 15th NCAA Championship Sweet Sixteen when they host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a second round match Friday evening at Ellis Field. First kick is slated for 7:30 p.m.
Due to the kindness of the Aggie Soccer Club, Texas A&M students and kids 18-and-under will receive free admission to Friday evening's contest.
Tickets may be purchased online at www.12thMan.com/tickets, in person at the Zone at Kyle Field box office, or over the phone at 1-888-99-AGGIE during regular business hours.
The Aggies advanced to the second round for the 20th consecutive season when they posted a 1-0 victory against Lamar last Friday to open the tournament. The Maroon & White enter play with an 18-2-1 overall record and a school-record 14-match win streak.
Notre Dame opened the tournament with a 5-0 victory over IUPUI. The Fighting Irish are 10-6-3 overall. Notre Dame is looking for their first-ever win at Ellis Field with College Cup losses in 2007 (3-2, Florida State) and 2009 (1-0, North Carolina) and 2-1 loss to Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen of 2014 NCAA Championship.
Texas A&M owns an 11-match NCAA Championship win streak at Ellis Field with the last postseason home loss coming in 2007.
The first team to score two goals may win the match. Texas A&M is 13-0-1 when scoring two or more goals this season while Notre Dame owns a 10-0-0 mark in similar scenarios.
The two storied squads have met on just two prior occasions. Notre Dame won the first meeting, 1-0, in Klein, Texas in 1999.
In 2014, the squads met in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Championship. Texas A&M got goals from Kelley Monogue in the seventh minute and 82nd minute with a Notre Dame equalizer scored by Karin Muya in the 72nd minute. The Irish held edges in shots (19-12) and corner kicks (8-5), but shots-on-goal were even 6-6 and Jordan Day made five saves for the Aggies.
Notre Dame played in a pair of College Cup games at Ellis Field, losing to Florida State, 3-2, in 2007 and North Carolina, 1-0, in 2009.
The Aggies are playing in their 23rd consecutive NCAA Championship, one of five teams to play in each tournament since 1995. The other schools to make it to every tournament since 1995 are North Carolina (1982-2016), Notre Dame (1993-2016), Virginia (1994-2016) and Penn State (1995-2016). A&M is 34-21-6 (.607) all-time in the NCAA Championship. The Aggies have appeared in the Sweet Sixteen 14 times. The Maroon and White have advanced to the Elite Eight six times, including two of the last two three seasons. The Aggies made their first College Cup appearance in 2014.
Texas A&M has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship in each of their last 20 appearances. It marks the third-longest active streak behind only North Carolina (36) and Virginia (24). The Maroon and White have gone 18-0-2 in the first round during the span, advancing on PKs in 2003 (vs. SMU) and 2010 (vs. North Dakota State).
Aggie head coach G Guerrieri and North Carolina's Anson Dorrance are the only two coaches to appear in every NCAA Championship since 1995.
The winner of the match will play the victors of Friday afternoon's Baylor-USC match which is also being contested at Ellis Field.
