Can the Ags do the unthinkable?
Unranked Texas A&M (4-4-0, 0-1-0) enters Friday's matchup against No. 4 Vanderbilt (7-0-1, 0-0-1) as clear underdogs.
A trip to Vanderbilt Soccer Complex on Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. CT will be Bobby Shuttleworth & Co.’s opportunity to seize a win over a top-10 team.
The Commodores were 7-0-0 before they went down to Georgia for a draw in their SEC opener, 1-1.
VU has yet to lose at home this season. A&M hopes to change this.
The Maroon & White’s back line will face their biggest test this season as the reigning SEC champions have scored 29 goals through eight games.
In their SEC opener last Friday against Kentucky, the Aggies fell short, 3-2.
Although a loss, the effort and intensity from his players were clear, Shuttleworth said.
“All of that hunger and desire needs to be put into the right places,” the first-year head coach said. “And mentally staying on task and doing the things we need to do.”
The Ags and Wildcats played an even match. Goalkeeping and failure to capitalize on 11 set-piece opportunities from corners contributed to A&M’s defeat.
“Obviously a very disappointing and frustrating result,” Shuttleworth said. “I thought we did enough to, at least, get a draw there and felt we had plenty of opportunities to win the game. I think we’re shooting ourselves in the foot a little too often and individual mistakes are hurting us at opportune times.”
Despite still maturing as a team, the Aggies have scored 18 goals in eight matches, outperforming the 2025 squad, which scored only 17 times the entire season.
Contributing seven of those goals is freshman attacking threat Ireland Churchill, who scored both goals against UK and earned her second brace of the season and career.
“I have a high IQ,” the California native said. “That’s kind of hard to teach, but being with a faster speed of play than club has helped me use that quicker and make it come alive a little more.”
“[Churchill] is a young player,” Shuttleworth said. “But one that is driving the culture within our team. She is professional on and off the field, and she sets a high standard for herself and wants others to join in. The exact type of player we want at our program.”
Churchill is one of 11 freshmen on the young roster.
In the Kentucky matchup, Shuttleworth said he started seven nervous freshmen who now should feel more confident playing the Commodores and other conference opponents.
“They should feel some comfort in knowing what they’re stepping into,” the head Aggie man said. “And what the standard needs to be and what the SEC looks like.”
A&M holds a 10-4-0 advantage in the all-time series, but the Aggies remained scoreless against Vanderbilt in the 2024 and 2023 matchups, including a 6-0 loss in 2023 — their largest conference defeat since joining the SEC.
However, this team is part of a new era — the Bobby Shuttleworth era.
“I think we should have won [the Kentucky] game,” Churchill said. “We went off that field with our heads held high, and I think we’re ready to play against Vandy. We had great sessions after that and our film sessions. We’ve learned a lot from those.”
