A score to settle: A&M faces rematch with No. 1 FSU in second round
A battle lies ahead.
Coming off a first-round win over a feisty Colorado squad last week, 8-seed Texas A&M earned a rematch with the top-overall seed Florida State on Friday in Tallahassee.
“That’s a bit of a sobering thought,” head coach G Guerrieri said.
The NCAA Tournament second-round match is set for 4:30 p.m. CT.
The Seminoles boast a strong forward in Onyi Echegini, who some — including Guerrieri — could argue is currently the best striker in college soccer. With 13 goals and four assists on the season, Echegini will be a huge offensive threat to A&M’s young backline.
But experience and familiarity could help the Aggies.
In this year’s season-opener, then-No. 6 Florida State came to Aggieland and overpowered the A&M, 2-1, with an 86th-minute winner. Yet, the Seminoles played with a group of stars on the sideline.
“They’re so much better than they were at that time,” Guerrieri said. “A lot of their players were being rested coming off of the World Cup.”
Echegini and Jody Brown were a part of Nigeria’s and Jamaica’s 2023 Women’s World Cup rosters, respectively. Brown has scored five times this season.
Even with more Seminole star power, A&M seeks revenge with their season on the line.
“We’re working on covering for each other and back to goal defending,” defender Macy Matula said.
Likely to sit in a low block against an offensive powerhouse, A&M could continue playing in transition like they have a majority of the season.
The Aggies will be challenged with slowing the potent offense down.
Florida State is first in scoring offense with 3.28 goals per game. A&M averages 2.14, but its defense has held opponents to 1.10.
“We know that we’re going to have just a heck of a game to be able to get any kind of result against Florida State because they are hands down the best team in the country,” Guerrieri said.
The challenge awaits.
Unlike the season-opener College Station, the Aggies must avoid conceding goals in the final minutes.
A week ago, A&M's defense did just that in holding strong vs. Colorado. Yet, a level-up will be required on Friday.
“We know a few of their strengths and their weaknesses, so just capitalizing on those,” midfielder Carissa Boeckmann said.
The ability to do so could be the difference in winning the battle and, ultimately, the war.