Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jon Elits Texas A&M Head Coach G Guerrieri has led nine teams to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. He says he is preparing for A&M's game Sunday against the Florida Gators like he would any other game. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Jon Eilts Texas A&M Midfielder Beth West leads A&M freshmen with 17 points in 2008. [Click to enlarge]

The No. 3-seeded Texas A&M soccer team will face off against the No. 2-seeded Florida Gators at noon on Sunday in Gainesville, Fla. in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Championship Tournament.

After brushing aside Texas State and Washington in the first two rounds in College Station, the Aggies (17-4-1) are facing a Florida team that defeated California and Central Florida with little difficulty to advance to the third round. The Gators (19-3-1) completed an undefeated conference schedule but were bested in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament by the Georgia Bulldogs.

Texas A&M Head Coach G Guerrieri said that his team and the Gators share a style of play that is very similar, and he knows his team is in for a tough match.

"They're similar to us in a lot of ways they try to play with the ball on the ground, they've got some really good athletes and they're a team that doesn't give away games," Guerrieri said. "They've been able to kind of cruise through their SEC schedule against teams that are bent to defeat them and are organized to defeat them, and they've found ways to win so they're a team that we look at and respect a great deal."

Making his ninth appearance in the Sweet 16, Guerrieri said that pressure comes with every tournament game, and as the remaining Big 12 team in the tournament, there will be even more eyes will be on the Aggies. He did not plan on doing anything different and will coach like it's any other game.

"We think [the tournament] should be fun," Guerrieri said. "It should be a real good experience because all of the rest of our competitors in our conference are eliminated; all of the rest of the teams from our state are eliminated. So it makes it where this is something kind of special.

"The same goes for Florida, they're the last SEC team to survive this far, so I think it'll be a game where both teams will look at it as a real opportunity to go even further. We look at it as a matchup in a good climate for us, and a good matchup against a team that we respect."

In the nine Sweet 16 appearances, A&M has advanced to the Elite Eight three times: in 2001, 2002 and 2006. The Aggies have a 3-1 record all-time against the Gators, with the latest contest favoring A&M 3-1 in 2000. The Gators defeated the Aggies 3-1 in an exhibition game a year ago.

While garnering high seeds in the tournament during the years, the Aggies have failed to advance beyond the Elite Eight to the College Cup. If A&M defeats Florida, it will be uncharted territory for much of the young team.

"[Coaching in a Sweet 16 game] really isn't any different," Guerrieri said. "We've played a lot of really competitive games and we just try to keep ourselves in that frame of mind that it's still a 90 minute game, it's still played with the same size balls that we've been playing with, and it's a game where the same players that we've been training with this week are going to be the ones that we have.

"I think for the outside people looking at it, it puts a label on you if you get past this one. I think the players have been really good about staying grounded and focusing on the task at hand."

Guerrieri said that if his team just keeps doing what it has done all season, that they'll be alright.

"We've been playing now for a few weeks where it's win or go home and that's something that puts a little more emphasis on the game," Guerrieri said. "We've recruited players to play in these types of games. We've recruited players in our program to play in even bigger games than this, but we can't play in those bigger matches until we are able to take care of business in this
particular game."

Gator hunting
No. 2 seed (9) Florida
(19-3-1)
No. 3 seed (14) Texas A&M
(17-4-1)
Noon, Sunday, Gainesville, Fla.
All-time record vs. Florida 3-1
Texas A&M has 13 freshmen on the roster. Seven players remain from the Aggies' 2006 Elite Eight team.
The Aggies (Big 12) and the Gators (SEC) are the only teams remaining in the tournament from their respective conferences.

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