On Friday, Oct. 16, Texas A&M has the opportunity to build confidence in what has been a historically favorable fixture against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
According to 12thman.com, Texas A&M has won the last eight encounters against the Bulldogs, with the Aggies scoring 26 points and only conceding three in that run. The Aggies (2-1-0) will be riding high after their dominant 2-1 display against rival Florida last Sunday. Simultaneously, the Bulldogs (2-0-2) will try and build on Sunday’s 2-1 win over LSU and maintain their undefeated record.
Despite dominating the shot (18-5) and corner kick (7-1) departments, the Aggies were inefficient in front of goal against Florida. A&M coach G Guerrieri emphasized the importance of quality reps in training as the key to scoring more goals.
“When you’re at practice, you have to train at the same speed you want to play at,” Guerrieri said. “We’ll polish that up this week, and you can bet we’ll be in front of goal quite a bit in training.”
Guerrieri said the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 has made it difficult to build momentum this season. He said the Aggies were only able to practice with a full squad once prior to last week’s game against Florida.
“It sounds cliche, but we just try to focus on the day-to-day and try to get better every day no matter who’s training,” Guerrieri said.
Freshman midfielder Kate Colvin said not having a preseason has made it more difficult for her team to get into stride. She said playing consistently is key to building momentum.
“If we can get a win against Mississippi State and keep playing and gaining confidence, that’ll just establish our rhythm moving forward,” Colvin said.
Colvin said her team’s win over Florida will boost the Aggies’ confidence going into the game against Mississippi State.
“For us to go against a good team like Florida and dominate like we did means we can play anyone,” Colvin said.
Guerrieri said one of the keys to beating the scrappy Mississippi team is for the Aggies to utilize their home-field advantage.
“The ability to play at Ellis Field, which is by far the best pitch in the SEC, is a big boost for us,” Guerrieri said. “For us, taking advantage of the surface and the momentum from last week’s game is important.”