COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The FGCU women's soccer team (4-1-0) will be trying to build on the program's best five-game start since the 2011 season when it travels to Texas A&M (4-1-1) on Thursday (Sept. 11) night for a date with the nationally ranked Aggies. No. 12 Texas A&M will be the first of two ranked opponents the Eagles square off with this weekend with No. 16 South Carolina set to do battle with the Green and Blue on Sunday (Sept. 14) at USF.
Kick off from College Station is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and Eagle fans will be able watch the game on the newly formed SEC Network Plus via ESPN3.com and the Watch ESPN app. Follow the link provided at the top of this story to watch the game. It will be the first national broadcast for the Green and Blue since the 2013 A-Sun Championship game which was shown on ESPN3.com.
TEXAS A&MTexas A&M finished the 2013 season with an 18-5-2 record and a 9-2 mark in the SEC before going on to win the SEC Championship. The Aggies advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and lost to No. 5 North Carolina 2-0. The Aggies finished the season ranked No. 8 in the nation in the NSCAA Coaches Poll and began the 2014 season with a 4-3 victory over Dayton before knocking off Stephen F. Austin, 1-0, No. 18 UCF, 3-0 and Illinois State, 4-1 all at home. Texas A&M then battled Arizona on the road to a 2-2 tie and fell to Arizona State 2-1 on Sunday.
Kelley Monogue leads the Aggies in both goals (6) and assists (4) to account for her team-leading 16 points. Shea Groom follows closely behind with four goals a pair of assists while Bianca Brinson has tallied three goals. Renee McDermott has started all six games between the pipes for Texas A&M making 20 saves and allowing eight goals.
LAST TIME OUTFGCU jumped ahead in the first half and closed the door on Murray State (1-4) with three second-half goals to secure the team's fourth victory of the season and second-consecutive shutout.
Tabby Tindell added a pair of goals and an assist while
Shannen Wacker handed out two more assists to increase her team leading total to five. Wacker sits in a tie for fifth in the nation with those five helpers.
Not be forgotten was the first goal of the season by senior
Melissa Arnold on a penalty kick in the 67th minute that put FGCU ahead 2-0.
Paulina Speckmaier scored the fourth and final goal of the game, her third of the season and eighth of her career, moving her into a tie for eighth on the all-time goals list.
Julia Roddar and
Sarah Lowicki added an assist on Sunday to register their first points of the season.
TABBYAlready a two-time Atlantic Sun Player of the Week this season, Tindell has tallied a conference-leading six goals, which also rank ninth nationally, and a pair of assists for a conference-leading 14 points. She has also scored the game-winning goal in each of the Eagles' four victories to this point. In recognition of her efforts Tindell is also already a two-time TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week selection.
Opposite Murray State the Ocala, Fla. native scored to put the Eagles ahead in the 36th minute for her 20th career goal, becoming just the fourth individual in program history to achieve that milestone and later added her second score of the game in the 70th minute to move into a tie for third place on the program's all-time goals list. Add in the game-winning goal opposite FIU in the seventh minute and Tindell now sits alone in fourth on the all-time points list with 48.
Tindell put together one of, if not the greatest individual seasons in program history in just her first year suiting up for the Green and Blue. She established single-season program records in points (34), goals (15), goals per game (0.75), shots (71), shots per game (3.55), shots on goal (44) and shots on goal per game (2.20).
NSCAAThe Eagles have achieved the No. 8 ranking in the NSCAA Southeast region for the week of Sept. 9. They fall in behind Virginia Tech (6-0), Virginia (5-0), Florida State (6-0), North Carolina (3-1), Clemson (5-0-1), Notre Dame (3-2-2) and Duke (3-3) while ranking ahead of Boston College (7-1) and Syracuse (3-1-1).
TOUGH SCHEDULEThe Eagles finished 2013 with the No. 67 RPI in the nation and the 2014 schedule features seven teams that finished ranked inside the top 83, three of which were ranked 15th or better. Those seven team include Arizona (83), Miami (73), La Salle (63), USF (53), Texas A&M (15), South Carolina (14) and UCF (13).
NEXT UPFGCU will then return to Tampa, Fla. to square off with No. 9 South Carolina (5-1-0) on a neutral field. The game will take place at USF and will be the first meeting between the two programs. The Gamecocks were 17-4-2 overall last season advanced out of the SEC to the NCAA Tournament with an at-large selection where they would defeat Furman, 5-0 before falling to Stanford, 1-0 in overtime. South Carolina finished the season ranked No. 15 in the NSCAA Coaches Poll. The Gamecocks are currently 5-1 with victories over East Carolina, 2-0, Samford, 2-0, Boston University, 1-0 and Milwaukee, 2-0 before falling to Clemson at home, 1-0. They defeated High Point 2-0 on Sunday afternoon and will take on USF before squaring off with FGCU on Sunday at 2 p.m.
#WINGSUPFans are encouraged to download the brand-new Wings Up mobile app in conjunction with SuperFanU prior to arriving at Sunday's match. The fully-customized loyalty-rewards platform allows fans to check in at each of FGCU's sporting events to earn points throughout the school year toward exclusive prizes that can't be offered anywhere else.
FOLLOW ALONGFor constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the women's soccer team on Twitter @FGCU_WSoccer, on Instagram @FGCU_WSoccer or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUWSoccer. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles.
TICKETSSingle-game tickets for FGCU Women's Soccer are available at a cost of $6 for adults and $3 for groups of ten (10) or more. Season tickets are also available. For more ticket information and additional deals, visit FGCUathletics.com/tickets, call or visit the ticket office at 239-590-7145.
