Searching for its first win of the season, Texas A&M soccer will face Tulsa on Thursday, Aug. 31 and TCU on Sunday, Sept. 3.
Tulsa
Before heading out to Fort Worth for A&M’s first road game of the season, the maroon and white will take on Tulsa at Ellis Field.
Head coach G Guerrieri and the Aggie soccer team hope to defeat Guerrieri’s alma mater, Tulsa. Guerrieri was a part of the Golden Hurricane’s men’s soccer program as a goalkeeper.
With four wins out of the four games against the Golden Hurricane, the Aggies have more on the line than the casual viewer may pick up on. The maroon and white have yet to take a win in the 2023 season. Two losses and a tie mark the record of the Aggies.
A&M has earned 11 goals in the four matches against the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa has only scored twice, and the goals were in the same game where the Aggies won 5-2 in Oklahoma. The other three of the four matchups between Tulsa and A&M have been at Ellis Field.
Returning to Ellis after a second-best attendance for the Baylor game, A&M needs to defeat Tulsa to save its public perception. The Golden Hurricane have lost all four games of the season and all to the Aggies.
Tulsa has earned only one goal against Oral Roberts and have been scored on 11 times this season. Six of which were scored against Oklahoma in the Gold Hurricanes’ season opener.
Tulsa’s senior midfielder Kayla Fernandez has nearly double the amount of shots as the second highest teammate with 11. Five of Fernandez’s shots were on target with a .455 shot on goal percentage.
Four goals have been scored by A&M this season including two converted penalty kicks both taken, earned and scored by junior forward Maile Hayes. Junior forward MaKhiya McDonald and fifth-year forward Sammy Smith contributed the remaining goals.
The final home game of the four game homestand at Ellis Field will kick off at 7 p.m. Fans who are unable to attend in person can stream the match on the SEC Network.
TCU
Out of the last 15 times the Horned Frogs and the Aggies have met, the maroon and white have conceded only twice. The losses to TCU, though, were given to A&M in the last two games where the two sides met.
Over the years, the maroon and white have lessened their winning margins. From a 6-0 win in 2003, to a 1-0 win in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic win was the last one the Aggies earned, and they hope to change that in September.
With the last two losses, the maroon and white still scored a goal in the matches which added to the tally of 43 total goals scored. The Aggies have scored in every matchup against the Horned Frogs with the maroon and whites past three appearances only earning one goal each.
A&M conceded four goals within the last two losses to TCU, but only one of the three goal scores remains with the program. Junior forward Camryn Lancaster scored against the Aggies in 2022 in the 86th minute to seal the match. Lancaster’s former teammates transferred away from the program to USC and Baylor. The fourth goal was an own goal by the maroon and white’s Karlina Sample.
The Horned Frogs lost many of their star players. Forward Messiah Bright went professional and now plays for the Orlando Pride. The two goal scores that transferred were Brandi Peterson to USC and Tyler Isgrig to Baylor. Isgrig recently assisted the goal scored on the Aggies by Baylor on Aug. 26.
TCU hasn’t won since its first game against SMU where Gracie Brian scored the only goal of the season for the Horned Frogs. The two losses following their season opener were against ranked opponents in Florida State and Penn State.
The first away match taking place in Fort Worth will kick off at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 3, and the match can be streamed on ESPN+.