Texas Aggie Soccer returns to action on Thursday night for a conference match at Mississippi State. The game kicks off at 6:30PM and will broadcast live on SEC+ through the ESPN app. You can also catch the audio on the 12thMan app.
We are 6 weeks into the Aggie soccer season and this match will mark just the first out of state trip for the Aggies.
I used to keep a spreadsheet that marked how utterly miserable Mississippi State soccer has been. In these write-ups, I'd take digs at the fact that A&M had more SEC winsin their first few years of being members of the conference than Mississippi State had in their history. Or that A&M had more SEC tournament wins than Mississippi State had appearances. All of that has become a lot less enjoyable now.
Why? Well, Mississippi State finally got their first win the SEC tournament. Over A&M. They finally advanced to the NCAA tournament. And won a game. And, chiefly, because the previously perennial (did I spell it right this time) doormat has a 3 game winning streak over A&M...
Miss State is off to a solid start this season with a 6-1-2 record and defeated Auburn 1-0 in their conference opener. Their loss is to the best team they've faced, Iowa (0-1). They tied a couple of middle of the pack teams in Arizona State (0-0) and South Alabama (1-1). And they got wins over some lower rated teams. As a middle of the pack team themselves, their performance seems consistent and nothing jumps off their schedule as surprising.
That said, they should be a better team than Kentucky. And Mississippi State gets home field in this one.
In all, Miss State has outscored opponents 12-4 and they've gotten those goals from eight different players. Aitana Martinez-Montoya leads the scoring with three goals. Martinez-Montoya hails from Spain and transferred to MSU this season from Farleigh Dickinson. The Mississippi State attack also added Bowling Green transfer Kennedy White during the offseason. White came in as Mississippi State's very first player to land on the Hermann Trophy Watch List.
Speaking of transfers, seven of the ten transfers on Mississippi State's roster are brand new to the squad as of this season.
Senior goalkeeper Maddy Anderson is a talent in goal. She holds the career shutout record at Mississippi State and currently has 5 on the season. She's allowed 4 goals and has 26 saves this year.
And a shoutout to Kaylie Smith, who has played just 13 minutes this season, but is a Calallen High School product from the team that game up no goals in district play and advanced to the state championship. Go Cats Go! (But I hope she loses).
To summarize, this is a different team even from the 2022 squad that beat A&M and advanced and won an NCAA tournament match. They're also better than the Kentucky team that frustrated and tied A&M at home last week. We need a win, but Mississippi State is not just giving those away anymore.
We are 6 weeks into the Aggie soccer season and this match will mark just the first out of state trip for the Aggies.
I used to keep a spreadsheet that marked how utterly miserable Mississippi State soccer has been. In these write-ups, I'd take digs at the fact that A&M had more SEC winsin their first few years of being members of the conference than Mississippi State had in their history. Or that A&M had more SEC tournament wins than Mississippi State had appearances. All of that has become a lot less enjoyable now.
Why? Well, Mississippi State finally got their first win the SEC tournament. Over A&M. They finally advanced to the NCAA tournament. And won a game. And, chiefly, because the previously perennial (did I spell it right this time) doormat has a 3 game winning streak over A&M...
Miss State is off to a solid start this season with a 6-1-2 record and defeated Auburn 1-0 in their conference opener. Their loss is to the best team they've faced, Iowa (0-1). They tied a couple of middle of the pack teams in Arizona State (0-0) and South Alabama (1-1). And they got wins over some lower rated teams. As a middle of the pack team themselves, their performance seems consistent and nothing jumps off their schedule as surprising.
That said, they should be a better team than Kentucky. And Mississippi State gets home field in this one.
In all, Miss State has outscored opponents 12-4 and they've gotten those goals from eight different players. Aitana Martinez-Montoya leads the scoring with three goals. Martinez-Montoya hails from Spain and transferred to MSU this season from Farleigh Dickinson. The Mississippi State attack also added Bowling Green transfer Kennedy White during the offseason. White came in as Mississippi State's very first player to land on the Hermann Trophy Watch List.
Speaking of transfers, seven of the ten transfers on Mississippi State's roster are brand new to the squad as of this season.
Senior goalkeeper Maddy Anderson is a talent in goal. She holds the career shutout record at Mississippi State and currently has 5 on the season. She's allowed 4 goals and has 26 saves this year.
And a shoutout to Kaylie Smith, who has played just 13 minutes this season, but is a Calallen High School product from the team that game up no goals in district play and advanced to the state championship. Go Cats Go! (But I hope she loses).
To summarize, this is a different team even from the 2022 squad that beat A&M and advanced and won an NCAA tournament match. They're also better than the Kentucky team that frustrated and tied A&M at home last week. We need a win, but Mississippi State is not just giving those away anymore.
