Junior defender Rachel Lenz earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for leading the Aggies to two shutouts over the weekend as Texas A&M officially made their foray into their new conference. The Aggies had one of the best offenses in the country in 2011, but it's the experienced backline and goalkeeping that provides their young strikers with the confidence to push forward.

"We've emphasized on being comfortable with the ball and being able to possess out of pressure," Head Coach G. Guerrieri said. "That’s been a nice issue that we’ve been able to see with the development [of the backline]."

TAMU defeated LSU 1-0 and Ole MIss 4-0 to set a school record for consecutive shutouts (5) this past weekend. The Aggies have allowed just three goals on the year in nine matches. Lenz also scored the only goal against the Tigers and saved a game-tying goal as LSU pressed with numbers.

"Rachel was outstanding and probably the most valuable player of the match," Guerrieri said. "Not only did she score the only goal of the match, but she came up with big defensive plays time after time."

The captain anchored the middle of the defense behind sophomore Meghan Streight who continues to be deadly on the attack. Streight provided three assists on the weekend with her most dangerous presence felt when taking and receiving free kicks. This time she flicked on a corner toward Lenz who finished for the gamewinner.

"This was a big win for us on the road," Guerrieri said. "It was a tough environment to play in and we overcame a slow start to play well and get a conference win.

The back four then suppressed a talented Ole Miss front and dominated the previously undefeated team offensively. The scoreline hardly reflects the quality of the match as the Rebels actually outshot the Aggies 14-11. Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Day made seven saves in the match to preserve the clean sheet, but it was the offense's ability to capitalize on their few quality chances to put the game out of reach.

Sophomore Annie Kunz took over a starting position and scored twice on Sunday to now lead the team with six goals on the year. Kunz took on defenders and timed her shots from distance to beat netminder Kelly McCormick. Sophomore Shea Groom came on in relief of 2011 Big-12 Offensive Player of the Year forward Kelley Monogue just 13 minutes into the match and scored the second goal of the game off a Streight set piece.

Both Kunz and Groom will have to continue to finish as Monogue continues to recover from a torn ACL. Monogue totaled 19 goals in 2011, but Kunz was not far behind with 14 on the year.

Road victories will be of the utmost importance for TAMU as they tend to dominate when at home on Ellis field. The Aggies took down their first two SEC games in a historic weekend and hope to ride that energy and the 12th  man to victories over visiting South Carolina Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Auburn Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

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