The Texas A&M soccer team finishes its regular season Thursday as players travel to Columbia, Mo. to take on a Missouri team that is tied for first in the SEC.
The Aggies (13-5-0, 6-4 SEC) are coming off a 4-3 loss against No. 12 Ole Miss and have struggled on the road this season against SEC opponents, maintaining a record of 2-3.
The Tigers tie Florida at the top of the SEC with 22 points, while A&M ties with Auburn for fourth with 18. Keeping them at the top, Missouri defeated Vanderbilt 1-0 and enters the game on a four-game winning streak where the Tigers have outscored their opponents 8-2.
Haley Pounds is the Aggies leading scorer with 11 goals in 17 games, averaging .61 goals per game. She has also added four assists this season. Harvey has scored from 20 yards in back-to-back games and has six goals so far.
Senior Karlie Mueller, the anchor of the A&M defense, will play her final regular season game for the Aggies. The defender has 85 caps, which ranks fifth all-time in the SEC.
Missouri (9-4-4, 7-2-1 SEC) is led by sophomores Jessica Johnson and Savannah Trujillo. Trujillo leads the Tigers in scoring with four goals. Johnson has scored three goals and registered four assists in 15 games this season.
A&M head coach G Guerrieri said Missouri presents a challenge to his team.
“Missouri is very athletic and very physical,” Guerrieri said. “They’re going to be playing for a championship, so they’ll definitely be all in on the things that they do well. They’re a team that we have a long tradition against, and it’s something I’m looking forward to going up and playing them.”
The Aggies are 15-1-1 all-time against the Tigers and have beaten the Tigers in the two games they’ve played while members of the SEC with a scoreline of 2-1 in each outing. Pounds said the Tigers play in a similar fashion to the Aggies.
“Missouri is a lot like us,” Pounds said. “They like to get the ball down and play possession, so I think it will be a pretty good and even matchup.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the match can be seen on the SEC Network.
