Nov. 3, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 20 Texas A&M soccer team travels to the Big 12 Soccer Championship in San Antonio, Texas, this week. The Aggies enter the conference tournament as the second seed and take on seventh-seeded Baylor in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Blossom Soccer Stadium.
The championship is single elimination and continues with the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 6 and the finals on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.
The Aggies (12-5-2, 6-2-2 Big 12) enter the tournament after shutting out Texas, 4-0, on Friday night at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. Freshman Kim Castleberry scored the game-winner, while four different players netted goals, and A&M posted its third straight shutout.
Baylor (8-5-5, 3-4-3 Big 12) played to a scoreless tie at Oklahoma last Friday to earn its first trip to the Big 12 Tournament since 2006. The Bears tied for the No. 7 seed and came out on top of the tiebreaker procedure, while Kansas defeated Texas Tech on penalty kicks in a play-in game for the No. 8 seed Monday.
With a victory on Wednesday Texas A&M would face the winner of the Colorado-Texas match on Friday.
TICKETS
Tickets for the Big 12 Championship are on sale now and available for purchase at http://www.sanantoniosports.org or call 210-820-2100. Day passes cost $7 and three-day tournament passes are $12.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Free live audio for all of A&M's games can be found on AggieAthletics.com. Each match will also be broadcast on KNDE-FM's HD3 channel, Play x REPlay (95.1-3 on the FM dial of an HD Radio), making it available worldwide on any iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry or PDA free of charge. Log on to radioaggieland.com for more information.
For more information on the Big 12 Soccer Championship, log on to Big12Sports.com. Free live stats and a video stream are available on the conference website for the quarterfinal and semifinal matches. Sunday's championship game is televised live by FSN at 1 p.m.
A&M AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
This year marks A&M's 14th consecutive trip to the Big 12 Championship, which is in its 14th year of existence. The Aggies own a 19-8-2 all-time record at the tournament and are one of just two teams (Texas) that have qualified for all 14 championships. The last time A&M brought home a tournament trophy was in 2005 after defeating Missouri, Nebraska and Colorado. In 2007, the team advanced past Iowa State on penalty kicks and defeated Mizzou before falling to the Longhorns in the finals. Last season the Aggies fell 4-2 in the quarterfinals to Kansas.
A&M is 5-1-1 this season against the seven other teams in the tournament. The Aggies lead the all-time series against each team but one as follows: Baylor (11-4-1), Missouri (11-6-2), Texas (18-5-1), Colorado (17-1-1), Nebraska (10-14-0), Oklahoma State (14-0-2) and Kansas (11-3-1).
YOUNG TWO-TIME BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Young earned her second Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honor on Nov. 3 after leading the Aggies to their third straight shutout against Texas and limiting the Longhorns to just two shots on goal and one corner kick. Young also contributed offensively by tallying three points with a goal and an assist. Young earned her first award Sept. 8 after producing a game-winning goal and an assist against St. Mary's. She also helped hold the Gaels and California to a combined four shots on frame.
COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Junior Rachel Shipley and senior Emily Peterson were selected to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District women's soccer teams. Both Aggie soccer players are finance majors and were named to the Academic All-District second team. Shipley carries a 3.693 grade point average and Peterson maintains a 3.921 GPA as a member of the Mays Business Honors program.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
The Bears hold a 4-7 record at the Big 12 Championship and earned a spot in the tournament for the first time since 2006 after they earned a 0-0 tie with Oklahoma last Friday. Baylor is 2-2-1 in its last five matches with two of those games going into overtime. The team is led by Lotto Smith with eight goals and 18 points. Hanna Gilmore adds 10 points, while Lisa Sliwinski is second on the team with four goals. Gianna Quintana is BU's goalkeeper and posts a 0.83 goals against average and a .806 save percentage. Baylor is stingy on defense allowing just 0.89 goals per game.
VERSUS THE BEARS
The last time Baylor made the Big 12 Tournament was in 2006 when it was the No. 8 seed and lost to the No. 1 seed Texas A&M, 3-0, in the quarterfinals. Texas A&M posts an 11-4-1 all-time record against the Bears after defeating them earlier this season by a 1-0 margin. Junior Whitney Hooper netted the game-winner with an assist from freshman Mary Grace Schmidt. A&M outshot BU 12-4, including a 5-2 edge in shots on goal. The Ags also earned seven corner kicks to Baylor's three.
LAST TIME OUT
Texas A&M turned in a dominating performance as four different players scored goals to lead the Aggies to a 4-0 shutout of Texas in front of 4,385 fans. A&M extended its unbeaten streak to three matches, while the Longhorns were handed their first loss against the Aggies since Oct. 12, 2007. Castleberry netted the game-winner in the 34th minute on a serve from Hooper.
UP NEXT - NCAA SELECTION SHOW
While the winner of the Big 12 Championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA selection show is set for Monday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNews.
VOTE PETERSON FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Peterson was selected as one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and is on a ballot for a nationwide vote concluding November 13. Fans can vote for Peterson daily by going to http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/womens_soccer_2009/ or by texting W9 to 74567.
These votes will be combined with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award.
LEADING THE WAY
Shipley leads the Aggies with seven assists and 19 points. She is second on the team with six goals behind Hooper who has seven scores. Sophomore Katie Hamilton posts six goals and Young adds five goals and five assists. Junior goalkeepers Kristin Arnold and Kelly Dyer record a 1.08 goals against average and a .741 save percentage.
SHUTTING DOWN ITS OPPONENTS
This season, Texas A&M has totaled nine shutouts, already exceeding its season total from last year. It ranks the Aggies first with six Big 12 shutouts and second in the conference behind Oklahoma State who has posted 11 blanks overall.
NCAA RPI
Texas A&M is ranked 25th in the most recent rating percentage index (RPI) that was released Nov. 2 by the NCAA. The Aggies are the highest-ranked program in the Big 12 and the only team in the top 50 RPI.
IN THE BIG 12
In conference games only, the Aggies lead the Big 12 with 234 shots and six shutouts. A&M ranks second with 62 corner kicks, and third with 20 goals, 2.00 goals per game and 1.50 assist per game.
AGGIES LEADING THE NATION IN ATTENDANCE
Texas A&M ranks second in the nation in average attendance this season. The Aggies are just one of two programs that average over 3,000 fans per game. A&M's crowd of 6,589 on Aug. 28 was the third-largest in program history. Here's the list: 1. Portland (3,558) 2. Texas A&M (3,211) 3. North Carolina (2,206) 4. BYU (2,181) 5. Georgia (1,510)
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