The Aggies are trading Maroon for gold at their annual Turn It Gold match in a fight against childhood cancer.
Texas A&M (4-5-0, 0-2-0) is now 1-4 in away games after a devastating 5-0 loss to No. 4 Vanderbilt on Friday.
However, the Ags are 3-1 at Ellis and have their SEC home opener on Thursday at Ellis Field.
Can home field advantage with the 12th Man and confetti be enough for the Maroon & White (and gold) to be victorious over No. 7 Alabama (9-1-0, 2-0-0) on Sept. 24?
A&M is searching for a conference win after a 0-2 start for conference play.
The Ags showed attacking momentum early at Vanderbilt, but they failed to capitalize on those moments, which is a repeated pattern. The Commodores took advantage of the defense’s inability to connect, outshooting A&M 19-8 in the 5-0 shutout.
“Good teams are going to exploit moments that you take off,” Bobby Shuttleworth said this week. “And I think that’s exactly what happened.”
Another top-10 opponent on Thursday will be a test to see how much growth the Ags took from the last game. The Crimson Tide has a 4-0 road record and is on a two-game winning streak.
Conversely, A&M is on a two-game losing streak.
In their two SEC matches, Alabama blanked Auburn and Arkansas, bringing their season total to six clean sheets. The Crimson Tide have allowed 10 goals while scoring 23.
While Alabama is a good team, the head Aggie man is focused on finding consistency in his group as a team, as well as individuals.
“If we can string those things together," Shuttleworth said. “I think we’ll have a good opportunity to put on a good performance and they’ll struggle with us.”
Shuttleworth & Co. are learning to find consistency with a team of mainly starting freshmen in a competitive conference.
Freshman defender Juliet Haras said the transition from club and high school soccer to the SEC has been noticeable. She credited upperclassmen and the coaching staff for helping the freshmen adjust and said it’s fun to compete against older opposing girls.
“We do have the potential to be great,” the California native said. “So, going into the next game, pushing ourselves even more.”
Shuttleworth made a keeper change against Vanderbilt and started junior transfer Adelaide Paredes over the previous eight-game starter, freshman Makenna August.
“[August] has got to get back to the basics,” the former 14-year MLS goalkeeper said. “And get things pretty straightforward. Keep the routine stuff, routine.”
Paredes made eight saves against the Commodores.
Shuttleworth said Paredes and junior transfer Sydney Fuller bring more game experience than August, but all three will continue competing in training as the staff evaluates who will start in goal Thursday.
The Aggies will kick off at 7 p.m. CT at home in College Station for a competitive matchup against No. 7 Alabama in gold.
“It definitely won’t be easy,” Haras said. “But we’re ready to put the work in for it.”
