Last-place Ags need offensive jumpstart ahead of Lone Star derby

Point-less.

But far from pointless.

When Texas A&M (3-5-3, 0-4-0) and Texas (3-7-1, 1-3-0) meet at Ellis Field on Thursday night, they'll renew a storied Lone Star derby.

However, the 7 p.m. CT match will feature the sides currently at 13th and 16th in the Southeastern Conference standings.

"I'm pretty confident that our team will be up for the event," A&M head coach G Guerreri said on Monday. "I'm pretty sure (the Longhorns) will also be up for the event. It will be a really good event for women's college soccer in general."

Losers of five straight overall, the Aggies have yet to score a goal in a conference match, while their rivals to the west earned their only conference points coming via a dramatic 2-1 defeat over then-No. 13 Vanderbilt on Friday night.

Indeed, A&M is the only SEC side that has yet to register a point in the conference standings.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Thursday will be the first A&M-Texas matchup at Ellis Field since the Aggies defeated the Longhorns 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 15, 2019.

Still, Thursday's meeting should have the traditional passion one might expect when Maroon clashes with burnt orange.

Yet for the cellar-dwelling Maroon & White to show any signs of jumpstarting their season, the offense must actually show a pulse.

Indeed, you must score to win, and the Aggies haven't done either in weeks.

"This is one of the best defending teams that we've had at Texas A&M, which is really saying something," Guerrieri said. "Right now, it's a matter of the last 30 yards and us being able to win in the other team's penalty area as well."

With 13 goals in 11 matches, A&M's 1.18 goals per game average is skewed dramatically by a 7-1 win over Lafayette College on Aug. 31. Since that bludgeoning of a Patriot League side, only Leah Diaz has found the net for A&M in Sept. 7's 2-1 defeat at then-No. 4.

Additionally, Guerrieri announced Taylor Jernigan (two goals scored in nine matches) has been lost for the year, while Diaz's status for the Texas match remains uncertain after she missed the loss at Tennessee.

"There's a lot of really great attacking talent that has potential to be great SEC attacking talent," Guerrieri said of his club. "You can bet that we'll be spending a little bit of time in the last 30 yards today and tomorrow and getting ourselves kind of warmed up to play in a pretty heated environment against Texas."

Last week, Texas snapped a four-game losing streak on Amalia Villarreal's penalty kick with just two seconds remaining vs. Vandy.

However, the Longhorns have scored in all but two matches this season as Villarreal and Ava McDonald lead their club with six goals apiece.

"Texas has a couple of really explosive players," Guerrieri said. "Very, very good in attack. They're a team that's coming off a big win in dramatic fashion. With 10 seconds left, they were given a penalty kick to beat Vanderbilt in Austin last week.

"They'll come in with a lot of confidence."

While A&M leads the all-time series 21-7-2, Texas has won back-to-back matchups in 2022 and 2024, including a 2-0 shutout in Austin last year.

So whether it's Maysen Veronda or Sydney Fuller in goal for the Aggies, they're in desperate need of offensive support.

In truth, the Maroon & White have lost their last three matches by just three total goals.

Still, without improvements to the offense, A&M’s run of solid defensive showings will continue to seem...pointless.