After mixing in two SEC games with two non-conference matches in the last two weeks, Texas A&M now solely faces SEC opponents for the remainder of the season, beginning with South Carolina Thursday.
The No. 4 Aggies (9-1, 2-0 SEC) have won five straight games and are coming off a 2-1 double overtime thriller over University of North Texas, which helped boost their record to match the best ever 10-game start in school history.
The No.17 South Carolina Gamecocks (8-1, 2-0 SEC) sit atop the SEC standings with A&M and Kentucky. They enter the match on a six-game winning streak, where they have outscored their opponents 19-4. South Carolina ranks second in goals, assists and points in the SEC.
Aggie head coach G Guerrieri said the Gamecocks are always a tough opponent.
“South Carolina is coming off of a real good win at Missouri,” Guerrieri said. “That’s one of the teams that was an Elite-Eight team last year. We’ve always had tough games against them. They’re very organized, they’re very good defensively and they’re very dangerous on the break. It’ll be an exciting game.”
The last time the two teams met was Nov. 7 in the SEC Tournament, and A&M came out victorious with a 1-0 win.
Sophomore midfielder Savannah McCaskill leads the Gamecocks with seven goals, while senior midfielder Stevi Parker is the backbone with her experience.
A&M is led by sophomores Haley Pounds and Mikaela Harvey, who have scored seven and four goals this season respectively. Defender Karlie Mueller has anchored the defense and scored a last minute free kick in Sunday’s win over UNT. The senior shared her thoughts on Thursday’s matchup.
“It’s nice to get the conference schedule rolling and we’re really excited to go out to South Carolina,” Mueller said. “It’ll be our first time out there since we joined the SEC, so it’ll be a big trip for us and we’re looking to pull a win as South Carolina is a very good team and they’ll be one of the top teams in the SEC.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday. The match will be shown on the SEC Network.
