The No. 7 Texas A&M soccer team and the Southland Conference Tournament Champion Texas State Bobcats face off Friday at the Aggie Soccer Complex with dreams of the NCAA trophy in mind.
The Aggies (17-5-0), seeded ninth nationally in the tournament, enter Friday’s match after a thrilling 3-1 victory over No. 21 University of Texas in the championship game of the Big 12 tournament to claim their third Big 12 title.
“(The tournament) is made even more special by playing at home for the 10th straight year,” said A&M head coach G Guerrieri. “The fact that we get a chance to play on our field is just a great bonus.”
Texas State (13-9-0) received an automatic bid into the postseason by claiming the Southland Conference tournament title in a 1-0 overtime defeat of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
Four years ago, the Bobcats earned a postseason berth and were matched up against the Aggies in the first round of the NCAA tournament in College Station. The Bobcats were shut out 3-0, but head coach Kat Conner said she is eager for the rematch against her former coach and boss, Guerrieri.
“Our attack has become much more sophisticated over this season,” Conner said. “If we keep possession of the ball and keep it clean in the backfield, we have nothing to be afraid of. It’s pretty much the match-up I expected.”
“All four coaches are great friends,” Guerrieri said. “Kat Conner was my former assistant, and she helped me start this program.”
The Bobcats are no strangers to the postseason, entering the NCAA tournament for the third time in the past seven years. TSU seniors Kendra Comfort, Kendra Kade and Jaynee Sherman were freshmen on the 2001 squad that lost to the Aggies in the first round, but remain optimistic about their chances to knock off heavily favored A&M.
“When we played them four years ago, we were in the game,” said co-captain Kade. “If we play like we did this past weekend, we will be very competitive.”
The Bobcats are averaging a blistering 18 shots per game this season and are connecting for 2.6 goals per contest. However, the Big 12 champions are not fazed.
“(The Big 12) has the second-highest number of teams in the tournament from any conference,” Guerrieri said. “There’s a tremendous respect for our conference, and it shows how difficult it is to consistently win in this conference. I think it’s going to be a fun regional. It will be a really neat weekend, and some great soccer is going to be played.”