Alabama Women's Soccer Opens Season in New Orleans
8/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
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With the pre-season behind them, the University of Alabama women’s soccer team can now concentrate on what lies ahead of them in the 2002 season. They will start on Friday night at 7:00 as the team travels to New Orleans, Louisiana to take on the Tulane Green Wave.
The match marks the second straight year the Tide has opened its season with Tulane and the first time since 1998 that the team has opened the season on the road.
Last year, Alabama dominated the game claiming a 4-1 victory which improved their all-time record against the Green Wave to 3-0. The goal allowed by Bama last year was the first in the series to Tulane as the Crimson Tide has outscored them 11-1 over the course of the three games.
The last time the Crimson Tide traveled to Tulane was in 1997 when Alabama claimed a 1-0 victory, but a lot has changed since then.
“I’m looking for Tulane to come out fired up,” said Alabama Head Coach Don Staley. “They just got new lights for their stadium and will be playing under them for the first time. Betsy (Anderson) has done a great job of putting that program back together and we fully expect to have our hands full.”
Following Friday night’s match, the team will return to Tuscaloosa to open the home portion of the 2002 season with a 1:00 p.m. match against Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday, September 1.
Alabama and the Lady Indians have only faced each other once before with the Tide coming out on the positive end of a 4-1 score to open the 2000 season. The game will have sentimental value to current Alabama assistant coach Rena Richardson who started the ULM soccer program in 1999.
If numbers tell the future, it could be a profitable day for Alabama, as the Tide has racked up an impressive 10-1 record in home openers, with the lone loss coming in the first year of the program back in 1986.
“I’m expecting us to come back from New Orleans excited about opening our season at home,” said Staley. “Monroe will come in fired up while looking to upset a team from the SEC, but we’ll just have to play our game and dictate the tempo.”
Due to the current construction at the University Recreational Center, parking for all home matches will be moved to the north end of the soccer field.
When attending the matches, fans and media are asked to enter via the Recreational Center parking lot off of Campus Drive and proceed back through the gate where a parking attendant will direct traffic to the proper parking spots.
The University of Alabama and the Crimson Tide soccer program would like to thank its fans in advance for their patience and support.
