Soccer Opens Home Schedule This Weekend
9/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
TUSCALOOSA ?? After beginning the season with six straight road games, the University of Alabama soccer team will finally play before a home crowd this weekend when it hosts Mercer and Birmingham-Southern at the UA Soccer Stadium.
The Crimson Tide (2-4-0) will battle Mercer Friday at 7 p.m. and Birmingham-Southern Sunday at 1 p.m. The first 500 fans through the gates Friday will receive magnetic schedules and the first 500 fans Sunday will receive Alabama seat cushions. Admission to all Alabama soccer games is free. Fans not in attendance can listen to the game on 90.7 FM. Live stats will also be available at www.rolltide.com.
"We are extremely excited to finally play at home," Alabama head coach Don Staley said. "We hope that with all the excitement surrounding the game that our students and local fans will come out and be our 12th man."
Not only are this weekend's games the first of the home slate for Alabama, but they are the final two non-conference games of the season. Coach Staley hopes to see his team get back to .500 before entering Southeastern Conference play next weekend. The Tide is coming off a pair of overtime losses at the UAB Nike Classic. Prior to that, Alabama won the Memphis Nike Classic two weeks ago.
"We've played an ambitious non-conference schedule on the road and that was one of our goals for this season," Staley said. "Even though losing two overtime games last weekend was tough, I'm extremely pleased with the effort that was given. This is a resilient team that's excited to get back out on the field and show the home crowd how far they've come since the first of the season."
Traditionally, Alabama has been very strong in home openers. The Tide is 13-2 all-time in home openers, including a 13-game winning streak between 1987 and 2004 (Note: Alabama did not field a team between 1989-1993). Alabama has averaged 3.6 goals per game in home openers and has outscored opponents 55-8.
Mercer (0-6-0) enters Friday's game looking for its first win of the season. Alabama leads the all-time series with the Bears 4-0, including last season's 5-1 victory.
"Mercer will be inspired to pick up their first win of the season and they'll come in prepared to play," Staley said. "Although we won last year, the game may have been closer than the scoreboard indicated."
Sunday's match with Birmingham-Southern (2-4-0) will be the third meeting between the two schools. BSC is led by first-year head coach and former Alabama player Nikki Smith. Smith played at Alabama from 1994 to 1997.
"Anytime you go up against an old player, you know they will circle that game as one of the premier games on their schedule," Staley said. "Nikki Smith has done an outstanding job of stepping into the role of head coach and we know they'll come in ready to play."
