PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Texas A&M soccer team begins the quest for its fourth SEC Tournament title with Sunday’s 3:30 p.m. first round match against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Ashton Brosnaham Park.
Texas A&M (9-5-5, 3-4-3 SEC) is undefeated in October. The Aggies have wins over Rice (1-0), Ole Miss (2-1), Auburn (3-1) and Florida (4-1), and draws against LSU (2-2), South Carolina (1-1) and Missouri (1-1).
Texas A&M is playing with the benefit of a red-hot Maile Hayes leading the attack. The sophomore forward claimed SEC Offensive Player of the Week in three of the last four weeks of the regular season. She has 17 points in the last five matches with seven goals and three assists. Most recently, Hayes tallied two goals and one assist in the Aggies’ regular-season finale. Her exploits made her the first Aggie to ever earn league offensive player of the week recognition in consecutive weeks and the only SEC player to ever earn the award three times in a month.
The Aggies have a tradition of success at conference tournaments with an overall mark of 37-16-14 (.657) in league tournaments. The Maroon & White boast eight conference tournament crowns, including SEC titles in 2013, ’14 and ’17.
Texas A&M posted a 23-10-4 (.676) record at the Big XII Championship and won the title in five of the tournament’s first 16 years. The Maroon & White claimed Big XII titles in 1997, 2001, ’04, ’05 and ’11. Their .700 winning percentage (14-6) at the SEC Tournament ranks second.
The Aggies own a 9-2 edge in the series with all the meetings coming since A&M joined the SEC prior to the 2012 season. Ol’ Sarge’s charges won the first nine matches with the Bulldogs snapping the win streak last season in Starkville, 2-1. Mississippi State added another victory to their ledger earlier in the season benefitting from a 52nd minute own goal in the 1-0 win. Texas A&M has posted shutouts in six of the 11 matches with the Aggies outscoring the Bulldogs, 30-6.
The match airs on SEC Network with Alex Perlman and Ian Carry on the call. Fans may listen to the match on 97.3 FM in the Brazos Valley and worldwide on the 12th Man Mobile app and 12thMan.com with David Ellis (play-by-play) and Thomas Dick (color) painting the picture.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Texas A&M Athletics – 12thMan.com…