No. 25 Aggies host Denver on Wednesday in first home match of 2024

Maintain a high RPI and build momentum.

Those were two of Texas A&M’s main goals coming into the preseason.

Coming off a 5-0 shutout at Lamar in last Thursday’s season opener, No. 25 Texas A&M expects to continue that dominance when hosting Denver Wednesday at Ellis Field.

The first home match of the school year will kick off at 7 p.m. CT.

“Every game that we want to play is against teams that we think are going to be in the NCAA Tournament,” A&M head coach G Guerrieri said. “Winning 5-0 is a big exclamation point and something a lot of people around the country took notice of how good we can look.

“It'll be really nice to be home Wednesday night against Denver, back in front of the 12th Man.”

However, things will look a little different for the Maroon & White moving forward.

According to Guerrieri, freshman goalkeeper Maysen Veronda — who secured a clean sheet in her collegiate debut against Lamar — will likely miss the rest of the season due to an ankle fracture sustained in practice this weekend.

With Veronda expected to redshirt, the Aggies are comfortable with either graduate Grace McClellan or freshman Sydney Fuller in goal.

“Whether it’s Grace or Sydney, everyone on the team is completely confident because of the experience that they've gained in training and the games that they played in our exhibitions over the spring,” Guerrieri said. “They're both big-time keepers and leaders. When you have the experienced backline in front of them, you feel pretty confident no matter what.”

Entering Wednesday, the Aggies' main strategy focuses on playing to their strengths.

“We want to do the same thing [as in previous matches], attacking as we do,” graduate forward Jazmine Wilkinson said. “We have a solid backline as well. Our working relationship and building our chemistry is something we should work on. But other than that, we don't want to change anything.”

As they look to take another step forward, the Aggies will emphasize scoring from a plethora of distances and keeping up their attack throughout the entire match.

“We're still in the process of getting ourselves better,” Guerrieri said. “A lot of those goals were pretty extraordinary. They were goals from beyond the range where most people are going to score. A couple of Sydney (Becerra)'s goals were 25 and 30 yards out, which you wouldn't [usually see]. It caught the goalkeeper by surprise that she would have that range. We'd like to be able to do a little bit better from closer range.”

The Maroon & White also outshot Lamar, 11-6. Two of sophomore midfielder Grace Ivey’s shots went in, along with a brace from Becerra, while freshman midfielder Kat Campbell’s first collegiate goal highlighted the game.

Will Huffman, TexAgs

The Aggies attacked early in their season opener, scoring two goals in the first 15 minutes en route to a dominating 5-0 victory over Lamar in Beaumont.

Keeping up that level of offense is essential for A&M.

Denver will need to be on attack as well.

At 0-2, the highly athletic Pioneers started their season with two losses to top-10 North Carolina and Idaho State.

Unlike most out-of-state opponents, the Pioneers are more than equipped to handle the Texas heat after practicing at warm, high altitudes.

“They proved in the game against North Carolina that they're very fit,” Guerrieri said. “They’re coming in, and they're going to be motivated to result against us. We know that they're going to give us everything we can possibly handle.”

Guiding the Pios is coach Julianne Sitch, who became the first woman in NCAA history to lead a men’s team to a national title while at the University of Chicago in 2022.

Sitch, a former NWSL defender, is in her second year at the helm in Denver.

“She's someone who we respect, not just because of her leadership and the way that she takes teams and molds great players out of those teams, but she's a winner in everything she's ever done,” Guerrier said. “We know that she'll have them organized, ready to go and give us everything that we can handle.”

Handling those challenges would allow the Ags to keep building on their goals.