Texas A&M
South Carolina
Match Preview: No. 14 South Carolina
Oct 24, 2018 | Soccer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies wrap up their regular-season campaign Thursday with a road match against the No. 14 South Carolina Gamecocks.
The SEC Network will televise the match with Jenn Hildreth (play-by-play) and Heather Mitts (color) handling the call. The contest will be available for viewing on SEC Network+. SECNetwork+ provides events to SEC Network subscribers through WatchESPN and the ESPN app on smartphones, computers, tablets and connected devices (Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One). The game will also air on 102.7 The Zone locally and RadioAggieland.com worldwide.
With Vanderbilt already clinching the outright SEC title, the Commodores' first since 1994, Texas A&M and South Carolina play to improve their final seeding for the SEC Tournament, as well as improve their résumés for the NCAA Championship. Texas A&M is tied with Ole Miss for fifth place with 16 points (5-3-1). South Carolina enters play tied with Arkansas and Tennessee for second with 19 points in the league standings (6-2-1). The Aggies are 14-3-1 overall on the season and sit at No. 11 in the RPI. The Gamecocks are 12-3-1 on the year and rank 16th in the RPI.
Despite the two losses last week, the Aggies still lead the nation with the most victories by at least a two-goal margin with 12. The nearest teams on the list are Bowling Green, Central Arkansas, Colorado, Saint Louis, Tennessee and USC with 10 victories by a multiple-goal margin apiece.
The Aggies are 5-3-1 all-time against South Carolina, including 4-3-1 since joining the SEC in 2012. A closely contested series, four of the Aggies' wins and all three of the Gamecocks' victories have been decided by one goal.
Four of the meeting have happened at the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama, with the Aggies winning three of the four, including a 1-0 OT win in the 2012 first round, 2-1 win in the 2013 semifinal and a 1-0 win in the 2014 semifinal on a goal by Bianca Brinson in the 86th minute. In 2016, in the most recent meeting, Texas A&M took a 1-0 lead early in the match on an Emily Bates goal, but Savannah McCaskill scored two second-half goals to lead the Gamecocks to victory.
