The No. 22 Texas A&M soccer team will open SEC conference play this Friday at Auburn.
The Aggies are coming off a huge blowout win against No. 19 Kansas at Ellis Field last Sunday. That improved the Aggies to 4-1-1 overall. Auburn is coming off a weeklong break where its last match against Southern Alabama at home was cancelled due to inclement weather caused by Irma. And the Tigers won their match last Friday against High Point 3-1.
Though they’re 3-3-1, they’re highly competitive.
“Auburn is coming off one of the best seasons ever getting to the elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament,” A&M head coach G Guerreri said. “They have a lot of big returning players.”
Auburn is led by senior forward Kristen Dodson and senior midfielder Courtney Schell. Dodson is who has been a true pioneer for this Tiger team, posting three goals on the year with an assist and racking up 576 minutes. Schell has three goals as well while having 620 minutes on the field. Auburn’s goalkeeper is junior Sarah Le Beau, who has 25 saves with 661 minutes.
With SEC conference play opening up Friday on the road, head coach G. Guerreri said the team needs to have “awareness of being in a unique environment.”
Texas A&M is led by senior fielder Haley Pounds, who has two goals scored while logging 353 minutes on the field.
“I have a lot of experience with facing Auburn in the three years that I have spent here,” Pounds said. “They’re very aggressive on offense especially around the net, so the key is to stay on top of defense to stop them.”
The Aggies are also led by senior midfielder Stephanie Malherbe, who has one goal on the year while playing 547 minutes. Malherbe scored a goal in last year’s win against the Tigers at Ellis Field. She talks about the changes going into this matchup in 2017,
“We’re a much different team as we many new faces that are more influential,” Malherbe said. “We’re more focused defensively last year as we tried to keep the Tigers out of goal rather than this year we’re offensive driven on scoring goals.”
The Aggies’ junior goalkeeper Cossette Morche has 12 saves while only giving up five goals on the year.
Kickoff is set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Auburn, Alabama.
