For the first time, the A&M soccer team is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Fresh off its second consecutive sweep of the SEC tournament and regular season titles, the Aggies got the nod for the top seed Monday during the NCAA Selection Show.
One of four No. 1 seeds in the field of 64, the Aggies secured home-field advantage for the first four rounds of action.
“This is our 20th tournament in a row, but it’s our first time to actually be acknowledged as a No. 1 seed,” said head coach G Guerrieri. “It’s one of the things that this team formally set as a goal last spring when we started to really focus on what we wanted to do this year. I’m proud of the kids because they got it done.”
The Aggies are riding high after three consecutive shutout victories in their second SEC tournament title run in as many years, and the team’s defensive streak couldn’t come at a better time.
“We’ve just got to keep it rolling,” said senior defender Meghan Streight. “Just keep doing what we’re doing and doing the best that we can as a unit back there to stop other team’s offenses as best we can. If for some reason they do end up scoring, we’ve just got to turn around and keep playing and keep doing what we do best which is keeping the ball.”
A&M’s roster is laden with nine seniors, but Guerrieri said the team wouldn’t have ended up where it is if the entire lineup had failed to step up.
“If you look at what has been our moniker of the year with our great attack, a lot of that is dominated by the seniors and the numbers that they put up,” Guerrieri said. “At the same time, the goalkeeping has been seniors. Meghan Streight and the back line has been senior-led, but it has been a great team because it’s not just those guys who’ve got it done. The freshmen have stepped up big as have all the other classes. This year more than any that we’ve had in the past, they found ways to get it done. Everyone has done their role, especially when it was crunch time.”
A&M will welcome Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. Friday in the first round and should the Aggies keep winning, they will play at Ellis Field until the Final Four in Boca Raton, Fla.
“Being here with the 12th Man and the Maroon Militia’s going to give us such more motivation,” said senior forward Shea Groom. “It’s hard to play here. Everyone says it. It’s such a big deal for us to be able to share the tournament finally with the 12th Man until they send us to Boca [Raton,] hopefully.”