Spring Break
Aggie soccer team looking for fifth Big 12 title
By: David Arno
Issue date: 11/5/08 Section: Sports
The No. 8 Texas A&M soccer team begins post-season play at the Big 12 championship tournament in San Antonio on Wednesday. The Aggies will face Kansas in the first round.
The Aggies (15-3-1, 7-2-1) enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed after ending the season one point behind Oklahoma State for the top spot. A&M comes into the tournament on a three game win streak and is looking to knock out the No. 7 seeded Jayhawks.
Kansas (11-7-1, 4-5-1) comes into the tournament having lost two of its previous three games. The Jayhawks sole win was against Baylor, which failed to qualify for the tournament.
In the two schools' previous meeting during the regular season, the Aggies lost in Kansas 1-0, ending A&M's chances of winning its fifth consecutive Big 12 regular season title. Aggie Head Coach G Guerrieri said his team did not play well against the Jayhawks the first time around, but he expects better on Wednesday.
"I think our players will be playing motivated," Guerrieri said. "We could do a better job this time around finishing up our chances, creating a lot of chances and finishing them off. Last time we had 17 shots, but missed the goal 14 times. I know that we can do better than that."
Though the Aggies lost their fifth consecutive Big 12 regular season title, the team can continue a championship streak by winning the tournament. Guerrieri said that the Big 12 tournament will provide A&M with a chance to improve its seeding for the NCAA tournament, which begins Nov. 14.
"The [Big 12] tournament gives us a second opportunity to win a title," Guerrieri said. "We're confident that we can beat anybody, so I look at this conference tournament as an opportunity to get a couple more good wins, hopefully, under our belt which should help us in the eyes of the NCAA committee."
Guerrieri said one of the benefits of having the Big 12 tournament in San Antonio is its close proximity to College Station, and the high number of Aggies living in the San Antonio area.
"[We've had] great support in San Antonio," Guerrieri said. "A really good base of Aggies always shows up and it's such a great place in the down time. [There are] a lot of things to do, and I like it because it's well attended, but also because it's such a good surface to play on and the weather is good."
The championship is single-game elimination and the winner of the A&M-Kansas game will face off against the winner of Missouri and Texas on Friday. The winner of that game will play in the championship game on Sunday.
The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The remainder of the field will be selected on Monday, Nov. 10.
The Aggies (15-3-1, 7-2-1) enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed after ending the season one point behind Oklahoma State for the top spot. A&M comes into the tournament on a three game win streak and is looking to knock out the No. 7 seeded Jayhawks.
Kansas (11-7-1, 4-5-1) comes into the tournament having lost two of its previous three games. The Jayhawks sole win was against Baylor, which failed to qualify for the tournament.
In the two schools' previous meeting during the regular season, the Aggies lost in Kansas 1-0, ending A&M's chances of winning its fifth consecutive Big 12 regular season title. Aggie Head Coach G Guerrieri said his team did not play well against the Jayhawks the first time around, but he expects better on Wednesday.
"I think our players will be playing motivated," Guerrieri said. "We could do a better job this time around finishing up our chances, creating a lot of chances and finishing them off. Last time we had 17 shots, but missed the goal 14 times. I know that we can do better than that."
Though the Aggies lost their fifth consecutive Big 12 regular season title, the team can continue a championship streak by winning the tournament. Guerrieri said that the Big 12 tournament will provide A&M with a chance to improve its seeding for the NCAA tournament, which begins Nov. 14.
"The [Big 12] tournament gives us a second opportunity to win a title," Guerrieri said. "We're confident that we can beat anybody, so I look at this conference tournament as an opportunity to get a couple more good wins, hopefully, under our belt which should help us in the eyes of the NCAA committee."
Guerrieri said one of the benefits of having the Big 12 tournament in San Antonio is its close proximity to College Station, and the high number of Aggies living in the San Antonio area.
"[We've had] great support in San Antonio," Guerrieri said. "A really good base of Aggies always shows up and it's such a great place in the down time. [There are] a lot of things to do, and I like it because it's well attended, but also because it's such a good surface to play on and the weather is good."
The championship is single-game elimination and the winner of the A&M-Kansas game will face off against the winner of Missouri and Texas on Friday. The winner of that game will play in the championship game on Sunday.
The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The remainder of the field will be selected on Monday, Nov. 10.
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