Alabama
Texas A&M
Alabama Soccer Travels to No. 19 Texas A&M before Hosting Auburn
10/4/2017 11:16:00 AM | Soccer
The Tide will face the Aggies on Thursday and the Tigers on Sunday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama women's soccer will continue its conference slate on the road on Thursday, Oct. 5 at No. 19 Texas A&M at 7 p.m. CT in College Station, Texas. The Tide will return to Tuscaloosa on Sunday, Oct. 8 to face in-state rival Auburn at 5 p.m. CT at the Alabama Soccer Complex. Both matches will air live on SEC Network +.
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Watch: Thursday & Sunday - SEC Network +
Twitter: @Alabama Soccer
WEEKEND RECAP
Alabama (8-4-1, 0-3-1 SEC) battled, but fell short on Thursday night to No. 25 Tennessee, 2-0, at the Alabama Soccer Complex.
Tennessee tallied two first-half goals that put Alabama on its heels for the rest of the match. The Vols struck first in the 19th minute, with a goal setup in the penalty area and extended its lead in the 37th minute. The Volunteers outshot the Crimson Tide, 18-12, despite Alabama's 10-shot second half performance. Redshirt freshman Chloe Maize and freshman Casey Wertz led Alabama's offense with three shots apiece, and senior goalkeeper Kat Stratton made five saves and suffered her fourth loss of the season.
2017 SEC PLAY
Despite scoring multiple goals during the non-conference slate, Alabama has only scored one goal against SEC opponents so far and has suffered three shutout losses to top-25 opponents South Carolina (3), Florida (6) and Tennessee (25).
The Tide's lone goal was scored in a draw against LSU off the head of junior Christina Maartensson, her first of the season. Overall, the Tide has been outscored, 7-1, but has put up a whopping 74 shots to lead the SEC in conference play, including a season-high of 44 against LSU. Goalkeeper Kat Stratton has registered 15 saves in 380:00 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 the upper hand over its opponents scoring eight more goals than their contenders (21-13) while launching 121 more shots (243-122) and putting 45 more shots on goal (102-57) than their foes. The Tide averages 1.62 goals per game and 18.7 shots per game.
In 1193:30 minutes of play, goalkeeper Kat Stratton has turned in a 0.98 goals against average and has registered 43 saves and four shutouts.
FRESHMEN TAKING THE LEAD
The Tide freshmen have made huge impacts on the team, scoring seven of Alabama's 21 goals, and seven freshmen have earned at least one start. Taylor Morgan is tied for the team lead in goals (3) and tops the team in shots (33), while Casey Wertz leads the team in shots on goal (19) and boasts the best shots on goal percentage after 13 games (.655).
IN THE SEC
In the conference, the Tide ranks second in shots (243) and corners (85) and rounds out the top six in points (62), goals (21), assists (20) and saves (44). 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 third in assists (6) and ranks sixth in assists per game (0.46). Freshman Taylor Morgan is ranked 10th in shots (33) while goalkeeper Kat Stratton is tied for third in saves (43), ranks sixth in saves per game (3.31) and shutouts (4) and sits 10th in save percentage (.768).
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 third NCAA Ratings Percentage Index of the year, the Tide moved up four spots to No. 24.
In the region, UA dropped down one spot to No. 10 on the NSCAA Southeast Region Poll for week seven.
Nationally, Alabama ranks inside the top-100 in ten categories including shots per game (12th), corners per game (24th), shots on goal per game (30th),goals (62nd), points (65th), assists (68th), won-lost-tied percentage (78th), assists per game (87th), points per game (93rd) and scoring offense (96th).
Individually, Kat Stratton ranks 17th in the country in goalie minutes played (1193:30) and sits 70th in shutouts (4), while Emma Welch is ranked 19th in the nation in total assist (6) and 43rd in assists per game (0.46).
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 – TEXAS A&M
Thursday's match against Texas A&M marks the ninth meeting in history between the two squads, and Alabama trails 2-6 in the series. In the last meeting, Alabama fell, 1-0, to the Aggies in double overtime in the first round of the 2016 SEC Tournament on Oct. 31. In the regular-season match, the Tide defeated the 14th-ranked Aggies, 2-1, in overtime on Sept. 25, 2016 to grab coach Hart's first top-25 win ever and the program's first since 2014.
Texas A&M enters Thursday's match ranked 19th in the country and owns an 8-2-1 overall record. In the Southeastern Conference, the Aggies have accumulated nine points to tie for third with Florida with a 3-1-0 record.
SEC Offensive Player of the Week Ally Watt and senior striker Haley Pounds lead the Maroon & White offensive with four goals apiece. In the conference, Watt ranks second in shots per game (3.90) while Pounds ties for third in game-winning goals (3). In the net, goalkeeper Cosette Morché has made 27 saves in 923:39 minutes.
Texas A&M ended its 2016 campaign 12-8-2, finished tied for sixth in the SEC and fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to USC. Texas A&M returns nine starters and welcomes eight newcomers to 2017.
SERIES HISTORY – AUBURN
Sunday's match against Auburn marks the 25th meeting in history between the two squads, and Alabama trails 7-15-2 in the series. In the last meeting, Auburn edged the Tide by one goal in overtime, 2-1, on Oct. 1, 2016.
Auburn enters Sunday's match 5-3-3 and ranks fifth in the conference with a 2-0-2 record.
Kristen Dodson leads the Tigers' offensive charge with five goals, 13 points, 38 shots and 21 shots on goal. In the net, Sarah Le Beau has made 36 saves in 1061:49 minutes.
The Tigers wrapped up 2016 with a 17-7-0 record, finished second in the conference (9-2) and ended the year in the quarterfinals at the 2016 NCAA Tournament, were they fell to USC, 1-0.
COMING UP
Alabama will continue its conference slate at home on Sunday, Oct. 15 to face Mississippi State at 5 p.m. CT at the Alabama Soccer Complex. Sunday's match will air live on ESPNU.
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.
