Texas A&M looks to bounce back at home against a familiar foe. The Aggies face the Missouri Tigers on Thursday at 6:30 after a long weekend. These two sides have played each other 22 times in total and A&M holds the 15-5-2 advantage all-time. The teams tied in the 2015 regular season finale 1-1.

The Tigers come into this match with a 8-4 record and a 3-2 mark in conference play. Mizzou has conference wins over Mississippi State (2-1 OT), Kentucky (2-0), and Ole Miss (5-0). Losses came to Auburn (0-1) and Tennessee (0-2). In all, Missouri has outscored opponents 25-14.

Scoring has been led by freshman forward Sarah Luebbert (#17) and junior forward Allie Hess (#22). Luebbert has 6 goals and 3 assist on the season along with a team high 34 shots. Hess has 5 goals, 1 assist and 34 total shots.

Sophomore Kelsey Dossey (#1) has manned the goal for the entirety of 11 of Missouri's 12 matches. She has allowed 12 goals while registering 25 saves. She has 2 shutouts and a goal against average of 1.07.

The Ags really need this one. Come out and support the Aggies at Ellis Field. You can also follow along on SEC+ (WatchESPN) or listen to 1550AM locally or via the 12th Man app.

PROMOTIONS!!
Dixie Chicken Night, presented by the Dixie Chicken, and International Student Night

• The 1st 500 current Texas A&M Students to come through the gate will receive a FREE Texas A&M lanyard and coupon courtesy for one half-priced burger basket, courtesy of the Dixie Chicken
• The 1st 200 current Texas A&M Students to the game will receive a FREE 12th Man Towel
• International student organizations have been invited to become honorary members of the Maroon Militia for the evening

CDub06 said:

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• International student organizations have been invited to become honorary members of the Maroon Militia for the evening

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VERY cool!

We are at the point where a win is more important than not losing and to do that we need to score goals. Other than the pk at Bama, we have not scored in 305:26. Hope that the full return of Stephanie and Ashlynn leads to more scoring opportunities.

I'll be doing my part in moving back to the Maroon Militia side. I am sorry for my selfish action of moving to the shade which no doubt spun this season into inevitable disappointment.

I think I'll do the same thing.

A bit of rain in CS right now, I think it'll pass by game time but I believe we're undefeated in rain-delayed games this year.

Is the game delayed?

Yes, delayed

Lightning sirens keep going off

Start time is expected to be 7:12pm

Ags up 1-0 at the half. Started the game very well and got an early goal. Didn't finish the half quite as strong though. Giving up lots of corners.

We're up a player and still let Missouri score to tie the game

Going to OT

Aggies lost 1-1

You said that right! Up a player and giving up a goal in the 86' is just unacceptable. This season is officially toast.

Aggies and Tigers tie: 1-1.

That was tough, short-handed goal. I hope they are getting healthy as the season goes on.

Pinata Man said:

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That was tough, short-handed goal. I hope they are getting healthy as the season goes on.

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Well it seems just as we get one player back another player gets taken out.

Mikaela was close to opening a can of u know what on a mizzou tiger tonight.

The only thing different tonight than the previous 3 games is that we actually scored. After that, Missouri dominated possession except for the first overtime. When their keeper kicked it long they got the ball. When our keeper kicked it long they got the ball. The number of corners we gave up tonight was astonishing. Danielle was great. The breakaways led by Haley in the second half were beautiful to watch until no one was able to finish. I'm worried about how much most of the team will have left for the game Sunday.

A&M scored early but couldn't hold on in the final minutes despite having a man advantage and settled for the 1-1 draw. Missouri had most of the possession and dominated the 1st half, but A&M came back and had some good chances in the 2nd half and played about even in the final 20 minutes. A&M's offense continues to struggle but at least tonight there were several good scoring chances that just couldn't be finished in front of goal, including at least two 1v1 chances with the GK that Crabtree missed. The backline was under siege most of the night and I think we saw two career nights from both Paulson and Rice. Paulson had multiple saving tackles and stops in the box while Rice had several spectacular saves to keep Mizzou off the board until a late junk goal in traffic late in the match. The midfield continued to struggle to keep any sustained possession, which put tremendous pressure on the backline to perform. In the 2nd half Harvey showed some flashes of the old Harvey with a few nicely slotted passes forward for scoring chances. And we saw a glimpse of the dynamic athlete in Arrieta who was locked into the game in the 2nd half that we haven't seen since the UCLA game. But right now A&M is really struggling with fundamentals - trapping, passing, moving without the ball and proper spacing. It's hard to have sustained possession when your only option is to kick the ball deep out of your own end of the field. To be honest, the coaching has not been stellar this season.

It was disappointing to see Missouri resort to their old tactics in the 2nd half with hard fouls and some truly dirty play late on a despicable takedown of Grace Piper from behind that should have been a red card. The Tigers were already down to 10 women after one player was sent off and they should have been down to 9 women. I was thinking at halftime that Missouri actually played a pretty clean 1st half and showed some great speed and ability on the ball and was playing the game instead of the opponent. But it all changed in the last 30 minutes. Coach Blitz has always been a dirty coach and he and his assistants were complete jackasses after they scored the equalizer late as they actually were shouting down and taunting the A&M sideline. What a classless buffoon this small man really is out there. At least Coach G shows class even after tough losses or in this case ties. I don't think I'd be so gracious.

So A&M didn't help itself in the quest to continue the postseason streak and now goes on the road for a while, where they've been truly abysmal. It doesn't look good right now and I think it will take an SEC tourney win to make the NCAA tournament this season. Pretty incredible really. But injuries to key players and unexpected redshirts have just killed this team and the season has spiraled. However, the SEC better get us this year because next year A&M will be loaded and out for revenge.

HiddenAg2 said:

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I think it will take an SEC tourney win to make the NCAA tournament this season. Pretty incredible really. But injuries to key players and unexpected redshirts have just killed this team and the season has spiraled. However, the SEC better get us this year because next year A&M will be loaded and out for revenge.

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you just answered my question, but wow. never would have imagined we would have been in this situation, even with last years roster.

Unacceptable to give up a goal, up a man with the season on the line.

Forward CAN"T finish. Arrieta should be up top .

What did everyone think of having Ashlynn at midfield since we are not used to seeing her there? Now the question is how to replace Grace Piper. She stayed in the lineup even with Stephanie's return. I think Ashlynn will move to where Grace Piper has been so someone will get a chance to start at midfield at UT.

mullokmotx said:

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What did everyone think of having Ashlynn at midfield since we are not used to seeing her there? Now the question is how to replace Grace Piper. She stayed in the lineup even with Stephanie's return. I think Ashlynn will move to where Grace Piper has been so someone will get a chance to start at midfield at UT.

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Unfortunately we are so thin right now that there are few options remaining. Harryman will clearly move into Piper's position but I have no idea what they will do in the midfield. Maybe Shaw. Next year we will have the opposite problem with so much depth and experience we will probably have transfers in the offseason.

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But right now A&M is really struggling with fundamentals - trapping, passing, moving without the ball and proper spacing. It's hard to have sustained possession when your only option is to kick the ball deep out of your own end of the field. To be honest, the coaching has not been stellar this season.

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This is my thought right now, we look really bad in every aspect of the game. We did not do a single thing good last night and it has been this way for weeks.

Earlier in the year I would have said out defense was solid, but as a group they looked especially bad last night. We were lucky to not give up 3 or 4 goals. Rice had a couple good saves, and Mizzou hit the post once and crossbar about 4 times.

I like Crabtree, she seems to find herself in good spots and it looks like she plays hard, but her ability to finish is just not there at this point. She had a great chance to put us up 2-0 and completely missed the goal, and later missed another good chance. Watching her in warm ups she did not strike the ball solid and hit everything weak and wide left, exactly how she missed the great chance 1v1 with the goalie.
We have to many players that are very inconsistent strikers of the the ball. The mizzou goalie had a great leg and hit it great every time, we need more consistency like that.

The officiating crew had a rough night. The card to Haley was crap Mizzou was all over her all game and the ref mostly called fouls on Haley for just trying to get separation then cards her for too many fouls... He needed to do more warning of mizzou players and calling fouls on them early. Once they realized he sucked Mizzou started fouling harder and was rarely punished. The foul on piper should have been a red. There were probably 10 handballs and maybe only 1 was called and it was by the 4th official. Most were inadvertent, but there were a coupe major ones that were just ignored. We clearly had a handball in the box, and it looked like Mizzou had one later on. I guess they balanced out.

The disappointment continues. Very good programs sometimes find themselves suffering through a "throw-away" season. Perhaps it is our turn. "Crap happens" is both a cliche and a truism.

Observations over the years indicates to me that our team is a frequent target for rough play and intimidation tactics. Moreover the opponents' negative behavior is sometimes fueled by poor officiating. I think coach G's mindset is to stay on the "high road" regardless of the punishment the team is taking and it has a price. I am not advocating dirty play or directed retaliations against specific offenders. Rather. I would like to see our coaches and girls develop a reputation for tough, physical, clean play that would minimize the perception by others that they are a "soft target." JMO

I think completely anihilating the plant foot on someone from directly behind is red card material... G or Phil should have got themselves kicked out, ref was horrible.

We had our moments but too few of them and for too short a time frame. The team, with a few exceptions, lacks poise and skill on the ball. There is a fundamental shortage of soccer maturity in our side of the ball.

A small handful of our players pass, dribble and control the ball thoughtfully. The remainder are more or less out of control and playing with a sense of panic. Instead of controlling and distributing calmly they do the opposite and kick aimlessly.

Even some of our more seasoned players (right back) seem to have lost their ability to pass and trap with the skill that they should have at this point in their careers.

When Mahlerbe, Pounds and Harvey started working together in the overtime period I saw some good things. Crabtree is improving but her finishing is rough. She had got to keep those shots down to make it tougher in the keeper. Harryman can play but she doesn't have the fitness to go long stretches at midfield yet. Paulson was solid and Rice was very good. Our left back needs to calm down in order to be a more complete player. Just kicking the crap out of the ball doesn't work. Arrieta works hard but her skills need some work. She would do better if she released the ball earlier and with more simplicity.

Late to the party on this one and still exhausted from yesterday's "other" football game. A few thoughts -

- The tackle on Piper was malicious trash. Watching as it happens, you often have an instant reaction but the video verifies it. Tackle from behind, little to no chance the ball was ever going to be played and violently takes out the plant foot of the opponent. Should have been a straight red and would have been happy to see G or Phil get a yellow (or worse) for protesting in protection of their player. Missouri played like - well, Missouri - and when they recognized the referee was weak at best, they proceeded to hammer our players all over the place. Haven't heard what the physical outcome was for Piper, but hope her injury isn't severe.

- Having Malherbe and Harryman back and using them in the midfield helped. It's not the full solution but it definitely helped. Malherbe has all the technical tools and can combine with Harvey and Pounds. Unfortunately for her, she has her hands full covering for the defender positioned behind her.

- Paulson was terrific and under siege most of the night. Rice did what she could, with a lot of help from the crossbar and post.

- Agree that Arrieta cannot simply rely on athleticism. Needs to develop her technical skills in order to play at a high level. Liked having Crabtree start up top - seems to have earned it. She didn't finish the chances she should and must become more consistent. However, she was getting shots off, which is more than anybody else did. I think she led the team in both shots and shots on goal - needs to be more productive but it's progress from her.

- Pounds was getting mugged all night and the yellow card was absurd, but she has got to start shooting and scoring.

- I think Harvey is still battling injury and the lack of players around her is problematic. She is in a tough spot. If she keeps the ball and dribbles to take on players, she will be criticized for being selfish and not passing. She will also be body slammed and double and triple-teamed. If she takes a touch and passes the ball to the open space (where a savvy player will be making the run), it more often than not results in a turnover, and she'll be criticized for that. A lot has been said about her temper and frustration on the field, but that kid is a competitor and hates to lose. This has got to be an excruciating experience for her mentally, on top of the physical abuse she endures every game.

- The blame game is what it is. I am as guilty of it as anybody. Everybody on this board supports the team and wants them to be successful. This is not going to be a successful season. It's hard to bear in mind that of the over 300 D1 teams, very few have had the success that A&M has had, on a long term basis. Many never make it to the NCAA tourney at all. Some make it every few years. Only a small handful make it EVERY year. Most would have expected that fate LAST year, but the team proved to be a very pleasant surprise. Had it not been for the amount and severity of the injuries this season, A&M would likely have been there again.

- The only path to the NCAA's now is to win the SEC Tournament (auto bid). It would be great to see the team finish strong, grabbing the wins that they should/can, qualify for the SEC tournament, and make the best possible showing there. After that, get healthy and really work on technical skills and tactical development in the off season.