The Aggies travel to Athens to continue their search for an SEC win and a chance to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Texas A&M (4-7-0, 0-4-0) faces Georgia (3-3-5, 0-1-3) at Turner Soccer Complex on Friday, Oct. 2, at 5:30 p.m. CT.
“One game at a time,” head coach Bobby Shuttleworth said. “Quite a few teams get into the SEC Tournament. We are one result away from being directly in that mix.”
The young A&M team has yet to find success in the SEC due to a lack of experience in a competitive conference.
Remember, the Aggie roster features 13 new faces and 10 freshmen.
“A lot of girls had to get used to a new system, while in the new system,” senior Taylor Jernigan said.
While not on the scoreboard, there have been some “wins” in terms of improvement.
“One game at a time. Quite a few teams get into the SEC Tournament. We are one result away from being directly in that mix.”
- Texas A&M head soccer coach Bobby Shuttleworth
The Aggies now have four SEC games under their belts and showed they can keep up with a top-10 ranked team, No. 4 Alabama, on Sept. 24. They were physical, assertive, connected and held possession of the ball, yet their Achilles’ heel was the inability to strike in the attacking third.
Unfortunately, a different team came onto the pitch on Sunday against Florida.
A&M still struggled to finish chances, but the Ags also couldn't handle the Gators’ direct, physical play. The Aggies gave up second balls and allowed five goals on their own pitch. They responded in the second half with two goals and more energy, but they ultimately failed to close the large gap.
Shuttleworth said he did not think his team showed up prepared to play last Sunday. While he and his staff take responsibility for not having them ready to play, the players need to show fight and intent.
After allowing five goals against Florida, the Aggies’ goalkeeper situation remains unsettled.
“No decisions have been made for the weekend,” the Aggie head man said. “All three of them need to be ready to play and train well this week to put themselves in a position to be picked.”
Danny Grant, TexAgs
Adelaide Paredes has started each of the last three matches, allowing 11 goals in 261 minutes played this season.
The first-year coach said the message all week has been how unified they can be and prepared to run, fight and be physical.
“We are not far off,” Shuttleworth said. “We just got to do the things we need to do.”
“We really just want to focus on ourselves,” Jernigan said. “There have been so many moments in games where you can see the real potential shining through, and if we can really just attack that and use that for a full 90 minutes, we would be better off.”
Jernigan brings the physicality to the front line that the Aggies have been missing.
“You have to put your body, or someone else's body, on the line,” the San Antonio native said. “Sometimes you just have to take that step.”
Last season, Georgia shut out A&M 3-0 in College Station, but the Aggies own a 7-5-0 advantage in the all-time series. However, the Bulldogs are on a four-game winning streak against A&M.
Georgia earned a draw in their last two matches at LSU, 1-1, and at Arkansas, 2-2.
A.J. Fischer, TexAgs
Still searching for her first goal in 2026, Taylor Jernigan has scored seven times in her Aggie career.
UGA had 14 shots against LSU, with the one on goal being the tying goal in the 86th minute.
Although the Bulldogs haven’t been great offensively, the Maroon & White need to watch out for the Georgia team to play the full 90 minutes.
Conversely, the Aggies will need to show up for the full game. Spurts of improvement have been shown, but A&M has struggled to stay consistent throughout an entire match.
Against a Georgia team that has found ways to stay in games and earn late results, the Aggies will need to win second balls, match the Bulldogs’ physicality and capitalize on chances in the attacking third.
Admission to Turner Soccer Complex is free, and the matchup will be streamed on SEC Network+.
