Texas A&M
Auburn
Match Preview: Auburn
Nov 08, 2020 | Soccer
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies play for a share of the SEC regular-season title when they host the Auburn Tigers in a Monday matinee at Ellis Field.
First kick is slated for 3 p.m. Streaming of the match is available on SEC Network +. Fans may listen to the match worldwide on 12thMan.com/live and the 12th Man Mobile App. In the Brazos Valley, the match airs on 97.3 FM.
As the last match on the SEC's regular-season schedule this fall, a victory would put the Maroon & White in a tie with the Arkansas Razorbacks atop the SEC standings with a 7-1-0 mark. Texas A&M has earned one of the four double-byes for next week's SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama.
Texas A&M enters play in the midst of a five-match win streak, including Ellis Field victories over Florida, Mississippi State and LSU.
The Aggies have been spectacular on both ends of the pitch. The Maroon & White lead the SEC in goals per game at 2.29 with 16 tallies in seven games. They also rank second in the league in goals-against average at 0.71.
Texas A&M has played with a lead for 61.7 percent of the 2020-21 campaign. The Aggies have owned the lead for nearly 389 of the 630 minutes. The Maroon & White has trailed 12.5 percent of the season, a shade over 79 minutes, all in the match at Arkansas.
The Aggies boast an impressive corps of freshman, including Barbara Olivieri and Lauren Geczik who have claimed the last three SEC Freshman of the Week honors. Texas A&M's rookies have accounted for nine of the 16 goals scored this fall, including four by Olivieri, two by Geczik and Laney Carroll and one by Taylor Pounds.
Auburn owns a 3-2-2 mark in a season in which they are yet to have registered multiple goals in a match. The Tigers scored one goal in each of their first six matches before being blanked in a 1-0 loss against Iron Bowl rival Alabama on Friday. Auburn hangs its hat on defense with a league-best 0.65 goals-against average and three shutouts on the year.
The Aggies are 7-3-0 all-time against Auburn with all the meetings coming since Texas A&M joined the SEC. The Maroon & White are looking to string together three consecutive wins against the Tigers which would match their longest run in the series. Last season, the Aggies topped the Tigers, 1-0, with Jenna Byers scoring off a corner kick with 20 minutes remaining in the contest. Shantel Hutton made three saves to pick up the shutout.
The Texas A&M Soccer's uniforms will feature a special patch that will be worn by all Aggies sport teams for the 2020-21 school year. The Aggies will wear a 2 ¼-inch black patch emblazoned with the word: UNIFIED. Texas A&M's student-athletes collectively determined the patch message, and released a statement on why they chose UNIFIED.
