Monday’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show revealed the full slate of women’s soccer teams competing for this year’s national title. Of the 48 squads awarded tournament entry, Texas A&M was seeded seventh, giving the maroon and white a first-round bye.
“We’re going to have to be our best if we’re going to survive,” A&M coach G Guerrieri said.
Guerrieri said the team’s 26th straight tournament selection shows the impressive calibre at which the Aggies always play.
“We’re obviously elated to be in the tournament,” Guerrieri said. “It points to the consistent high-level that this program has been flying at since 1995. It reminds me of all of the different young women that have represented Texas A&M in those years that put A&M on that platform.”
The Aggies’ seventh-seeding is the second-highest of any SEC team, behind only Arkansas, with whom A&M shared the SEC regular season championship in the fall. Guerrieri said he is proud of his players for working so hard to secure this high ranking.
“To be the seventh seed is terrific,” Guerrieri said. “This is a huge payoff for them.”
The maroon and white’s second-round opponent will be determined by a matchup between 9-0-2 South Florida and 7-0-0 Central Connecticut State. Though the Aggies secured a bye, Guerrieri said it is important not to underestimate either of these teams.
“There’s no easy path,” Guerrieri said. “The team that we’re going to play in the second round is going to be undefeated on the season when we see them. There will be no shortage of confidence in them.”
The upcoming competition will be the first NCAA soccer tournament held since 2019. Guerrieri said this scheduling change, a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, gave his team the opportunity to make more personalized adjustments throughout the season.
“The way that this year worked out, we were able to focus a lot on individual development and improvement,” Guerrieri said. “Every day is a new opportunity to get a little bit better. It’s one thing for our players to say that; it’s another thing for our players to actually learn it.”
The Aggies are going into the tournament with momentum following a 1-0 shutout of No. 3 TCU on April 10 in the team’s regular season finale. Guerrieri said this raised the team’s expectations going forward.
“That win was one of the reasons why we are the No. 7 seed,” Guerrieri said. “I think we proved our worth. We proved our level. Now we’ve got to go out and just keep proving it.”
The Aggies return to action Friday, April 30, to begin their tournament journey. Guerrieri said he is excited for what he hopes will be a successful championship run, claiming his team’s first step toward this goal was taken over eight months ago.
“We’re not trying to be No. 7,” Guerrieri said. “We’re trying to be No. 1. We’ve got a tough road to go.”