Alabama
Jacksonville State
Alabama Soccer Kicks Off the 2017-18 Athletics Season With Two Home Games
8/17/2017 2:53:00 PM | Soccer
The Crimson Tide will play a pair of matches on Friday and Sunday against Jacksonville State and Samford University respectively
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Crimson Tide women's soccer team will kick off Alabama's 2017-18 athletics season with a pair of home games at the Alabama Soccer Complex this weekend. Alabama will open the season against Jacksonville State on Friday, Aug. 18 and will battle against Samford University on Sunday, Aug 20 both at 7 p.m. CT. Friday's season-opener and Sunday's in-state matchup are both free to the public.
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THE OPENING KICK
The Tide topped Middle Tennessee, 2-0, in a friendly exhibition match on Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Alabama Soccer Complex.
In the three 30-minutes periods of play, Alabama attacked early, scoring a pair of goals in the first 20 minutes of the game. Freshman Taylor Morgan arched the ball over the fingertips of MTSU's keeper in the 15th minute for the 1-0 lead, and four minutes later, Hailey Brohaugh connected from 30 yards out to put the Tide up by two.
UA's offense recorded eight shots and 12 corner kicks, while the Alabama defense limited Middle Tennessee to one shot in the third period. Five true freshmen saw action in Thursday's exhibition and three starting.
UNDER HEAD COACH WES HART
The Crimson Tide enters its third year under the guidance of Wes Hart. In 2016, Hart implemented drastic improvements, nearly doubling last 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 their 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 contender 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 the 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 – 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.
Alabama started three freshmen during the preseason exhibition match, inlcuding Brynn Martin, Taylor Morgan and Kaley Verpaele. Freshmen Nicole Lyubenko and Casey Wertz, along with redshirt freshman Alex Plavin also made an appearance in the exhibition match.
SERIES HISTORY – JACKSONVILLE STATE
Friday's home opener against Jacksonville States marks the ninth meeting in history between the two squads and Alabama holds the 8-0 advantage.
In the last matchup, Alabama blanked the Gamecocks in a 2-0 decision at the Alabama Soccer Complex on Sept. 20, 2015. The Gamecocks are coming off a 5-13-1 season and went 2-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2016.
Jacksonville State is one of 16 programs the Tide is undefeated against with more than one match in the series, and the eight wins are good for the longest active win streak against any of Alabama's opponents.
SERIES HISTORY – SAMFORD
Sunday's match against Samford marks the seventh meeting in history between the two squads, and the Tide leads the all-time series, 4-2. In the last meeting, Samford snapped Alabama's three-game winning streak edging the Tide out, 1-0, Sept. 13, 2016.
The Bulldogs ended their 2016 campaign with a 15-4-2 overall record, were crowned SoCon regular season and tournament champions and made an appearance in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Samford was picked to win their conference this year as voted on by the league's coaches.
Samford's Jermaine Seoposenwe tied for ninth in the country in total goals a year ago and returns for her fourth season after competing at the 2016 Olympic Games with her home country South Africa.
SEASON OPENERS
Alabama has won five of the last seven season openers and has outscored their opponents 20-7. In the last two seasons, the Tide silenced their competitors with six unanswered goals, 1-0 in 2015 against Troy, and 5-0 in 2016 against Sam Houston State.
Alabama's 5-0 shutout victory against Sam Houston State was the second largest margin of victory since the Tide dominated Kennesaw State in a 7-1 decision in 2011.
The Tide has remained undefeated in the last four season openers in Tuscaloosa and has notched in 17 goals to their opponents' three.
SEC PRESEASON WATCH LIST
The Crimson Tide had four players selected to the SEC Preseason Watch List including senior midfielder Celia Jimenez Delgado, senior goalkeeper Kat Stratton, junior forward Abbie Boswell and junior midfielder Emma Welch.
COMING UP
Following Sunday's match against Samford, the Tide will stay at home for two more game as it plays host to South Florida on Thursday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. CT, and No. 15 Florida State on Sunday, Aug. 27 at noon CT. Friday's game against USF can be seen on SEC Network+ and the match against the Seminoles will be broadcasted live on SEC Network.
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