Alabama
Ole Miss
Alabama Soccer Travels to Ole Miss for Regular Season Finale
10/25/2017 11:53:00 AM | Soccer
The Tide will face the Rebels on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama will wrap up the regular season on the road against Ole Miss on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. CT at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium in Oxford, Miss. Thursday's match will be broadcasted live on SEC Network +.
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WEEKEND RECAPS
Alabama (11-6-1, 3-5-1 SEC) went 2-0 last week to extend its win streak to three-straight games. The Crimson Tide earned its first Southeastern Conference win on the road on Thursday, shutting out Arkansas, 1-0, and defeated Missouri, 3-2, in overtime to grab the Tide's 11th win of the season, which is the most wins earned in a single season at the Capstone since 2002.
Alabama put up 15 shots on Thursday night to defeat the Razorbacks in the neck-and-neck conference battle. With less than 15 minutes on the clock, junior Emma Welch directed a longball from the left wing that landed perfectly in front of redshirt freshman Chloe Maize who netted the game-winner to silence the Razorbacks. Senior goalkeeper Kat Stratton registered her fifth shutout of the season, her first in conference play, and made one save in 90 minutes.
On Sunday afternoon, the Tide tallied three goals to put away the Mizzou Tigers in overtime. Junior Abbie Boswell scored the first goal in the match 24 second after the opening whistle, and senior Alexis Mouton netted Alabama's second goal in the 38th minute. After the Tigers tied the score up at two apiece to end the first half, the match was sent into overtime where Boswell fired in the game-winning goal on a penalty kick to defeat the Tigers for the first time in Tuscaloosa. Kat Stratton picked up her third conference win of the season and made a conference-high of seven saves
MAIZE EARNS WEEKLY HONOR
After notching the game-winning goal on Thursday that shutout Arkansas on the road, redshirt freshman forward Chloe Maize was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week as announced by the Southeastern Conference office on Monday. Maize grabbed her first weekly honor of her career and Alabama's second of the season after freshman Taylor Morgan earned the same accolade on Aug. 28.
Then Tennessee native was also tabbed honorable mention on Topdrawsoccer.com's Team of the Week for week 10.
2017 SEC PLAY
Despite scoring multiple goals during the non-conference slate, Alabama has only scored 10 goals against SEC opponents so far and has suffered four shutout losses to top-25 opponents South Carolina (3), Florida (6), Tennessee (25) and Texas A&M (19).
The Tide is currently riding a three-game win streak, which is the longest winning streak against SEC opponents since 2013.
Overall, the Tide has been outscored, 17-10, but has put up a whopping 149 shots, which ranks third in the conference, including a season-high of 44 against LSU (Sept. 21). Goalkeeper Kat Stratton has registered 31 saves in 661:51 minutes.
NON-CONFERENCE CAMPAIGN
Alabama wrapped up its 2017 non-conference tilt 8-1, which is the best non-conference performance in school history since 2002 when the Tide went 9-1.
The Tide outscored its opponents 20-8, outshot its non-conference foes 169-78 and put 76 shots on frame to their opponents' 35.
Goalkeeper Kat Stratton and the Alabama defense silenced four teams with a total of seven goals and held its opponents to 0.89 goals per game.
Alabama recorded its best non-conference match in the season opener against Jacksonville State where the Tide topped the Gamecocks, 5-1. Senior Chatham DeProspo led the Tide in scoring with two goals, while juniors Kayla Mouton and Emma Welch along with freshman Nicole Lyubenko all contributed one score apiece. The Tide put up 16 shots in the second half on the way to its four goals and eventually finished the night with 34 shots to the Gamecocks' five. Stratton made three saves in the effort.
ALABAMA BY THE NUMBERS
Alabama has held an edge over its opponents scoring six more goals than their contenders (29-23) while launching 124 more shots (318-194) and putting 48 more shots on goal (131-83) than their foes. The Tide averages 1.67 goals per game and 17.7 shots per game.
In 1656:14 minutes of play, goalkeeper Kat Stratton has turned in a 1.25 goals against average and has registered 59 saves and five shutouts.
BOSS-WELL LEADING THE HERD
Similar to last year, junior Abbie Boswell has emerged as the team's top goal scorer with eight on the year, tallying a pair of goals in three games this season against Troy (Sept. 3), Auburn (Oct. 10) and Missouri (Oct. 22).
The Illinois native has played in all 18 games this season and has amassed a team-high of 18 points.
In conference play, Boswell ranks amongst the top players in seven offensive categories including goals (t-4th), game-winning goals (t-4th), goals per game (t-5th), shots (t-8th), shots per game (t-8th), points (t-10th) and points per game (t-10th). Furthermore, Boswell is tied with 16 other student-athletes for the most goals scored in a conference game (2).
FRESHMEN TAKING THE LEAD
The Tide freshmen have made huge impacts on the team, scoring nine of Alabama's 29 goals, and seven freshmen have earned at least one start. Taylor Morgan ties for second on the team in goals (3) and ranks second in shots (37), while Casey Wertz sits second in goals (3) along with Morgan, ranks second on the team in shots on goal (20) and boasts the best shots on goal percentage after 18 games (.588).
Brynn Martin has played a crucial role in the Tide's back core, by helping Alabama shutout five of its opponents and keep its foes to 1.28 goals per game. At the midway point of the season, Martin was recognized as one of the top 100 freshman to watch according to Topdrawersoccer.com as the site ranked her at No. 49.
IN THE SEC
The Tide leads the conference in shots (318) and rounds out the top 10 in corner kicks (3rd), points (5th), goals (t-5th), assists (7th), assists per game (7th), saves (7th), goals per game (8th) and shutouts (t-10th). Furthermore, Alabama's 44-shot performance against LSU is a conference team-high, beating out Arkansas' 43 shots against Mississippi Valley State (Sept. 3).
Individually, junior Emma Welch is tied for fourth in assists (7) and ranks seventh in assists per game (0.39), while senior Celia Jimenez Delgado is tied for eighth in assists (6). Junior Abbie Boswell ranks ninth in shots (48), 10th in shots per game (2.67), is tied for ninth in points (18) and is tied for fourth in goals (8). Lastly, goalkeeper Kat Stratton leads the conference in goalie minutes played (1475:21), ranks third in saves (59), 10th in saves per game (3.19) and eighth in shutouts (5).
IN THE RANKINGS
Alabama was ranked in several national polls for four-straight weeks after its victory over Florida State on Aug. 27. The Tide first appeared on Soccer America's top-25 list at No. 24 on Aug. 29 and received its highest ranking on the Soccer America list on Sept. 12 after topping Kennesaw Tech and Tennessee Tech (No. 19). Alabama also received votes on TopDrawerSoccer.com's top-25 rankings and NSCAA's top-25 poll during the same time frame.
In the sixth NCAA Ratings Percentage Index of the year, the Tide moved up three spots to No. 21.
In the region, UA jumped up two spots to No. 8 on the NSCAA Southeast Region Poll for week 10.
Nationally, Alabama ranks inside the top 100 in 10 categories including shots per game (19th), corner kicks per game (22nd), shots on goal per game (61st), goals (62nd), points (68th), won-lost-tied percentage (79th), assists (79th), points per game (84th), scoring offense (85th) and assists per game (91st).
Individually, Kat Stratton ranks 24th in the country in goalie minutes played (1656:14). Emma Welch ranks 38th in the nation in total assists (7) and 81st in assists per game (0.38), while Celia Jimenez Delgado sits 77th in total assists (6). Lastly, Abbie Boswell ranks 81st in game-winning goals (3) and 84th in total goals (8).
UNDER HEAD COACH WES HART
The Crimson Tide is in its third year under the guidance of Wes Hart. In 2016, Hart implemented drastic improvements, nearly doubling the previous year's win total, and registered his first winning season at the Capstone with a 9-8-2 record. Alabama finished ninth in the conference and made its first postseason appearance at the SEC Tournament since 2014. In late September, the Tide shocked then-No. 14 Texas A&M, 2-1, for the first victory over a ranked SEC opponent since 2014 and the first win over a top-25 team under Hart.
Hart's inaugural season had a major focus on transition and the future of the program. Highlights from his first year included Hart's first win as a head coach that came in the home opener against Troy (Aug. 23, 2015), handing Wake Forest its first shutout of the year (Aug. 28, 2015), giving LSU its first loss of the season (Sept. 11, 2015) in a 3-2 double-overtime, comeback win and a hard-fought double-overtime win at Georgia (Oct. 16, 2016), which marked Hart's first road win.
Home game attendance increased significantly in Hart's two seasons, as the Tide averaged over 719 fans per game in 2015 and 2016 – the largest average since the 2012 season. The Alabama Soccer Complex saw a crowd of 1,575 against Troy (Aug. 23, 2015), the second-highest single-game home attendance in program history.
13 NEWCOMERS
This year's squad showcases a wealth of young talent with Hart's biggest incoming class of 11 newcomers, all freshmen, and returns two redshirt freshmen and four sophomores. The Tide welcomes back 13 upperclassmen featuring six seniors and seven juniors.
UA returns nine regular starters from 2016 including points-leader Abbie Boswell and all-time top-10 goalkeeper Kat Stratton.
SERIES HISTORY – MISSISSIPPI
Thursday's match against Ole Miss marks the 24th meeting in history between the two squads, and Alabama trails 7-16 in the series. In the last meeting, Alabama fell to Ole Miss, 2-1, on Oct. 6, 2016. The Tide's last win over the Rebels came on Sept. 24, 2010 (2-0).
Mississippi (10-4-3) ranks eighth in the conference with 11 points thanks to a 3-4-2 record in SEC play.
CeCe Kizer leads the Rebels and conference, while also ranking second in the nation in goals with 16. Kizer also tops the team in points (39) and shots on goal (34). In the net, Claire Marnie Merritt has made 49 saves and has accumulated nine wins in 1590:00 minutes.
The Rebels ended its 2016 campaign 9-11 and finished 10th in the conference with an 4-7 record and ended their season in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Ole Miss returns 12 letterwinners and welcomes 12 newcomers to 2017.
COMING UP
Alabama will embark on its second consecutive postseason journey at the 2017 SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala. The Tide will plays its first postseason match on Sunday, Oct. 29. Alabama's opponent will be announced at the end of the week.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaSoccer on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaSoccer on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
