At 5-1-2 and currently ranked eighth in the region, Texas A&M men’s club soccer is ready to repeat its 2022 regionals win in Lubbock on Oct. 27-29.
The Maroon and White beat the Texas Longhorns 2-0 and the Oklahoma Sooners 4-0 in their last home games of the season on Oct. 20 and 22 at the Penberthy Rec Sports Complex. The team looks to repeat at the 2022 regionals, when it tied Oklahoma 1-1. Despite the tie, the Aggies were awarded first place in the bracket due to wins against UT-Dallas and Kansas and a favorable goal differential.
The team is confident ahead of the Lubbock trip, having won every game played in the regional tournament the last two years, supply chain management junior Cedric Van der Donckt said.
“We have a lot of confidence going into the tournament and we’re confident in our own abilities that we can beat any single team out there,” Van der Donckt said.
The success has not been found without hard work, and the job is far from finished, wildlife and fisheries sciences senior Nash Young said.
“We try to leave the pitch as better players than when we came on,” Young said. “It’s a long tournament, a lot of games, a lot of minutes played and you have to be physically ready for that. You have to take care of your body.”
A&M commemorates its 2004 national men’s club soccer championship with a single star on its gear, coach John Hennessey-Niland said. This year, he said he and the team hope to add to their uniform.
“We know the teams well in this region and will have the same goal, which is to win our regional and advance to nationals,” Hennessey-Niland said. “I’d love to add a second star to the Lone Star.”
Follow the team on Instagram at @TAMUMensSoccer for regional game times and dates.
Zach Planche is a university studies junior and contributed the piece from JOUR 359 Reporting Sports to The Battalion.