Alabama Soccer Opens 2004 Season on Friday Night
8/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
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The University of Alabama soccer team will open a new era and a new season Friday night at 7 p.m. when the Crimson Tide hosts Alabama A&M. It will be the first game to be played at newly constructed stadium at the Alabama soccer field.
"I'm excited to get on the field and show off this new facility as well as our team," said Alabama head coach Don Staley.
The beginning of the season will mark the end to a long and rigorous pre-season training schedule and the Tide will look to captains Rebecca Baker and Laura Lowman to lead them to victory.
Staley kept his team in Tuscaloosa for pre-season training this year, instead of the normal preseason camp in Orange Beach, Ala. But Staley feels that staying at home and getting acclimated to its new surroundings was just what the doctor ordered.
"We really had a quality pre-season this year," said Staley. "It's been a while since we stayed in Tuscaloosa for our pre-season training but I think it allowed us to get some extra things done and we really worked hard. This is going to pay off for us down the road."
Last season Alabama finished the year with a 9-8-2 overall mark and had success at home going 6-2-1. Friday night they will look to continue that success and christen the new stadium with a victory.
"This will be our first time on the field against someone other than ourselves," said Staley. "And we'll probably have a few jitters and a few kinks to work out. We need to be patient and do what we know we can do."
Alabama A&M will enter the season opener as the defending Southwest Athletic Conference champions. The Bulldogs finished 2003 at 9-12-1, and despite winning the SWAC championship, they missed the NCAA tournament.
Alabama will continue its opening weekend Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. as it travels to Birmingham-Southern.
