As SEC play winds down, Aggie soccer hopes to gain momentum
It’s the final countdown.
Only five games remain in Southeastern Conference play.
Following a strong 4-1 win against Ole Miss, Texas A&M (8-5, 3-2) returns to Ellis Field to host Vanderbilt (5-2-5, 0-2-3).
Kickoff for Thursday’s match is at 7 p.m. CT.
“We're hoping that we can use the 4-1 win on the road to kind of get ourselves a little bit of momentum,” A&M head coach G Guerrierri said. “Vanderbilt is such a strong team, they only have two losses on the season … They're a team that has been able to solve us in the past. So it'll be a very, very difficult game.”
As Guerrieri mentioned, the Commodores’ only losses this season have been to No. 1 Arkansas and No. 8 Georgia.
They entered SEC play undefeated, but quickly lost the streak with a tie to No. 6 Auburn.
The Commodores are led by leading strikers graduate forward Rachel Deresky and sophomore forward Sydney Watts. Dereskey has checked off five goals and four assists, closely followed by Watt’s six goals and one assist.
The Aggies will need to focus on ball control and tight passes to conquer Vanderbilt’s strong possessive skillset.
“They're one of the teams that if you lose the ball to them, you may not get it back,” Guerrieri said. “They're so good in possessing and moving the ball. I think Darren Ambrose, their coach, that's been kind of one of the things that they've really made a part of their program is that they're gonna be very good when they get the ball, they're very good in wide spaces and creating the scoring chances.”
Standing fourth in the SEC, the Aggies are just shy of first by three points (one win).
Vanderbilt sits in 15th place, with only three points in league play.
“They're behind us in the SEC standings, but they're ahead of us in the RPI,” Guerrieri said. “They're a top 40 team in the RPI, and that in itself is a huge motivator for me. Having been thumped by them last year, hopefully it'll be something for our players.”
Playing like they did against the Rebels will be key.
The Aggies must continue playing to their full potential and not underestimate their opponents.
Against Ole Miss, A&M received two goals and an assist from Jazmine Wilkinson, who was last years’ scoring leader with 10 goals.
Taylor Jernigan and Grace Ivey also found their way to the back of the net. Sydney Becerra set the tone offensively with her ball movement.
The Aggies continue defend their goal well behind freshman Sydney Fuller.
Fuller claimed her second SEC Freshman of the Week award with her four-save performance against Ole Miss.
“So learning from those situations in the past, learning from those times that didn't go right for us, being able to go back and adjust them has been good,” Guerrieri said. “So now, this week is a real uptick in the quality of our opponent.
On Sunday, the Maroon & White travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama (7-3-4, 0-1-4) at 6 p.m. CT.
