Texas A&M goalkeeper Maysen Veronda is expected to miss the remainder of the 2024 season and will redshirt this fall after she fractured her ankle in practice this weekend, A&M head soccer coach G Guerrieri said on Monday.
Veronda, a freshman from San Clemente, Calif., started in A&M’s season opener against Lamar last Thursday. She had three saves in the 5-0 shutout win over the Cardinals and played all 90 minutes. Veronda was one the top goalkeeper prospects on the West Coast out of last year’s high school class.
The Aggies will now turn to either graduate student Grace McClellan or freshman Sydney Fuller at goalkeeper. A&M has a pair of home matches this week, beginning with Denver at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Fairfield at 8 p.m. Saturday, which is also the annual Fish Camp game.
“Whether it’s Grace or whether it’s Sydney for the match against Denver, I think everyone on the team is completely confident because of the experience that they’ve gained in training and the games that they played in the exhibitions over the spring,” Guerrieri said. “They’re both big-time keepers and big-time keepers, and when you have the experienced back line in front of them, we feel pretty confident no matter what.”
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McClellan, an Alabama native, started her college career at LSU, but transferred to Keiser University after the COVID season in 2020. At Keiser, a NAIA school, she was an instant impact player and started in 10 games in the spring 2021 season as the Seahawks won the NAIA national championship. Over three seasons, McClellan posted a 45-4-2 mark with a .815 save percentage and set a Keiser career record 28 shutouts before she transferred to A&M. Last season, she collected 12 saves in five games played for the Aggies and made a start at Mississippi State.
Fuller had a 37-6-6 mark in her last two seasons at Keller High School and earned Texas Association of Soccer Coaches Class 6A first team all-state honors in 2022 and honorable mention in 2023. She played club ball with FC Dallas and was named first team Texas All-Conference last year and helped her team make the ECNL National Finals Elite Eight in 2022.
A&M graduate forward Jazmine Wilkinson said the Aggie goalkeepers have a strong unit and expressed her confidence in Fuller and McClellan.
“Maysen, unfortunately, got an injury so she won’t be playing, but the other two we have full confidence in Sydney and Grace, as well,” Wilkinson said. “Whoever they pick to play will step up, I’m sure of it.”
Coming into the season, the Aggies knew they would have to replace veteran goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell, who graduated and now plays professionally for the Orlando Pride. Caldwell logged over 6,300 minutes in five seasons with A&M and recorded 19 shutouts.
“That’s one of the things that’s really unique with the goalkeepers we’ve had at Texas A&M is it’s always been a next player up kind of mentality,” Guerrieri said. “It’s the one position we had to replace this last year, as far as we knew we were going to have a new goalkeeper with Kenna Caldwell now playing in the NSWL.”
The Aggies aim to build off last Thursday’s season-opening win over Lamar. Guerrieri said A&M scored some “extraordinary” goals that were beyond typical range.
“We’d like to be able to do a little bit better from closer range, but at the same time, Lamar was really falling back and putting a lot of people in front of the goal,” Guerrieri said. “So, if you’re going to pack it in on us, I think we’ve proven that we can score from distance.”
Denver enters Wednesday’s match with a 0-2 record after being upset 1-0 by Idaho State on Sunday. The Pioneers pushed No. 8 North Carolina in a 2-1 loss to open the season. Fairfield is 2-0 and Guerrieri said he expects the Stags to have one of the top teams in the northeast this season with a senior-laden team. Saturday’s match is expected to draw a large crowd with it being the Fish Camp game.
“It’s definitely something that gets us fired up,” Wilkinson said, “Hopefully, we can put on a good show for them.”