Texas Aggie Soccer begins their real 2021 season on Thursday at Florida State. The match is set to kickoff at 7PM Eastern (6PM Central). The match will stream on the ACC Network Extra (if your cable package includes the ACC Network). The audio is available live on the Radio Aggieland app.
You could not ask for a tougher test than beginning the 2021 season on the road at Florida State. FSU comes into the season with a #1 ranking and is an overwhelming favorite to win the College Cup. Florida State is perineal powerhouse in women's soccer and is third all-time in College Cup appearances (11). They have hoisted the national championship trophy twice in their history (2014, 2018). But this team might be the best they've ever had.
Florida State was 13-1-2 last season and actually carried a perfect record into the tournament. They advanced through the quarterfinal and semifinal on PKs before ultimately losing to Santa Clara on PKs in the championship. (Since it was the championship match, that result went down as an L in the books). Altogether, the Seminoles outscored opponents 41-8 last season. They also outshot their opponents 273-67, limiting their opponents to just 38 shots on goal (FSU totalled 118 SOG).
The Seminoles had 11 goal scorers last year, including 5 players with 5 or more goals. FSU returns all goal-scorers from last season, except for Kristen McFarland, who accounted for 1 goal. In fact, they return all but two players that played more than 30 minutes last season. This is basically last year's National Championship contender bringing back their full team for another shot.
The obvious player to watch on the FSU side is midfielder Jaelin Howell. Howell returns for her senior year with the Noles after winning the prestigious Hermann trophy last season as the nation's best player. Howell scored 5 goals last season and had 2 assists.
Senior Yujie Zhao has earned All-ACC honors each year she's been in Tallahassee. She came in off the bench last year as a dynamic player for Florida State. Zhao totalled 3 goals and 5 assists last year. Zhao hails from Shanghai and is on the 2021 All-ACC Preseason Team alongside Howell.
Cristina Roque returns to goal for her sophomore year after playing all but 9 minutes in goal for the Seminoles last season. Roque allowed 8 goals and totalled 27 saves. She put up clean sheets in 11 of 16 games last year.
Florida State is an international team with contributors from around the globe. Japan, Jamaica, Ireland, Bermuda, UK, Portugal, Sweden, and China are all represented on the roster along with Canadian National Team player Gabby Carle who just won an Olympic gold medal. Carle is a senior defender that helped anchor one of the nation's best defenses at FSU.
The Aggies are 1-6 all-time against the Seminoles, with the lone win coming in the first meeting in 1999. The last meeting was a narrow 0-1 loss in College Station in the 2016 season opener. FSU has outscored the Aggies in their 7 matches by a total of 20-5.
Florida State is THE team to beat in women's soccer this season. The Aggies have an especially tall order traveling to Tallahassee to take them on in the season opener. But what an opportunity for the team.
You could not ask for a tougher test than beginning the 2021 season on the road at Florida State. FSU comes into the season with a #1 ranking and is an overwhelming favorite to win the College Cup. Florida State is perineal powerhouse in women's soccer and is third all-time in College Cup appearances (11). They have hoisted the national championship trophy twice in their history (2014, 2018). But this team might be the best they've ever had.
Florida State was 13-1-2 last season and actually carried a perfect record into the tournament. They advanced through the quarterfinal and semifinal on PKs before ultimately losing to Santa Clara on PKs in the championship. (Since it was the championship match, that result went down as an L in the books). Altogether, the Seminoles outscored opponents 41-8 last season. They also outshot their opponents 273-67, limiting their opponents to just 38 shots on goal (FSU totalled 118 SOG).
The Seminoles had 11 goal scorers last year, including 5 players with 5 or more goals. FSU returns all goal-scorers from last season, except for Kristen McFarland, who accounted for 1 goal. In fact, they return all but two players that played more than 30 minutes last season. This is basically last year's National Championship contender bringing back their full team for another shot.
The obvious player to watch on the FSU side is midfielder Jaelin Howell. Howell returns for her senior year with the Noles after winning the prestigious Hermann trophy last season as the nation's best player. Howell scored 5 goals last season and had 2 assists.
Senior Yujie Zhao has earned All-ACC honors each year she's been in Tallahassee. She came in off the bench last year as a dynamic player for Florida State. Zhao totalled 3 goals and 5 assists last year. Zhao hails from Shanghai and is on the 2021 All-ACC Preseason Team alongside Howell.
Cristina Roque returns to goal for her sophomore year after playing all but 9 minutes in goal for the Seminoles last season. Roque allowed 8 goals and totalled 27 saves. She put up clean sheets in 11 of 16 games last year.
Florida State is an international team with contributors from around the globe. Japan, Jamaica, Ireland, Bermuda, UK, Portugal, Sweden, and China are all represented on the roster along with Canadian National Team player Gabby Carle who just won an Olympic gold medal. Carle is a senior defender that helped anchor one of the nation's best defenses at FSU.
The Aggies are 1-6 all-time against the Seminoles, with the lone win coming in the first meeting in 1999. The last meeting was a narrow 0-1 loss in College Station in the 2016 season opener. FSU has outscored the Aggies in their 7 matches by a total of 20-5.
Florida State is THE team to beat in women's soccer this season. The Aggies have an especially tall order traveling to Tallahassee to take them on in the season opener. But what an opportunity for the team.
