Alabama Soccer Hosts Rice Owls Friday Night
9/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
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The University of Alabama will get an opportunity to try on its new No. 10 regional ranking this weekend as the Tide hosts the Rice Owls Friday night, before hitting the road to travel to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on the Wofford Terriers.
The Crimson Tide (7-1-0) is coming off a most productive weekend in which they defeated UAB, who was ranked No. 10 in the Southeast region at the time, and then broke school and conference records against Jackson State. The Owls (0-5-1) travel to Tuscaloosa on the heels of a 7-0 defeat at the hands of No. 4 Texas.
Alabama will look to forwards Katie French and Dawn Nash to continue their offensive prowess while the Tide expects Courtney Rogers to remain a strong presence between the pipes. Nash currently ranks 18th in the country with a 2.38 points per game average while French checks in at 26th with a 2.25 average. French is also ranked 17th in the country averaging a goal a game while Nash is at 26th with a 0.88 average. Rogers and the Alabama defense have the Tide locked in at No. 8 in the country with a 0.63 shutout percentage. Alabama has shutout five opponents so far this season.
"We're excited about this weekend," said Alabama Head Coach Don Staley. "Our goal is to go out and take care of business against two quality teams this weekend and hopefully move up in the polls."
The weather surrounding the game will be nothing new for either team as the Crimson Tide traveled to Mobile, Alabama earlier in the season and defeated South Alabama in the midst of a tropical depression. Tropical Storm Fay made its presence felt in Rice's
2-1 overtime loss to Baylor and the Owls had its match against North Texas cancelled due to lightening. The two teams will be getting together in the wake of Tropical Storm Isidore.
Following its match with Rice, Alabama will hop aboard the bus and travel to South Carolina for a Sunday afternoon tilt with Wofford. The last time the two teams got together, the Tide had to come from behind to defeat the Terriers 4-2 in Tuscaloosa during the 2000 season.
Wofford (1-4-1), who plays East Tennessee St. Friday night, is fresh off a 9-0 pasting of the Citadel in their most recent outing.
The Tide's match with Rice is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Friday at the University of Alabama Soccer Complex, while the Alabama-Wofford match is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C.
