Alabama
South Carolina
Alabama Soccer Opens SEC Play at South Carolina before Hosting Chattanooga
9/14/2017 9:23:00 AM | Soccer
The Tide begins its conference tilt against USC on Friday and will host UTC on Sunday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 19/RV Alabama women's soccer kicks off its Southeastern Conference slate on Friday, Sept. 15 when it faces its second top-10 opponent of the year, No. 3 South Carolina, at the Eugene E. Stone III Stadium at 6 p.m. CT and will conclude non-conference play on Sunday, Sept. 17 when it faces Chattanooga at 5 p.m. CT at the Alabama Soccer Complex. Both games will air live on SEC Network +.
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Live Stats: Friday – gamecocksonline.com /Sunday – rolltide.com
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Watch: Friday & Sunday – SEC Network +
Twitter: @Alabama Soccer
STRONG START TO 2017 SEASON
Alabama picked up its fifth consecutive win over the weekend after downing Kennesaw State, 3-1, in Georgia and edging Tennessee Tech, 1-0, at home to improve to 7-1 on the season. The Tide's five-game win streak is the longest such streak since 2012 and its 7-1 record is the best eight-game start since 2002.
In the match at Kennesaw State, Alabama scored in the first two minutes of play thanks to junior Abbie Boswell's third goal of the season. Less than fifteen minutes later, freshman Taylor Morgan notched her third goal of the year to extend the Tide's lead to 2-0 to end the half. Then in the second stanza, redshirt freshman Chloe Maize netted the first goal of her career, in the 47th minute, to put Alabama up by three. With five minutes left on the clock, KSU avoided a shutout, scoring a goal in the 85th minute, but the Tide's two-goal cushion was too much to overcome. The Crimson Tide overwhelmed KSU's keeper with 18 shots and nine shots on goal to defeat the Owls for the fourth consecutive time in series history and give Kennesaw State its first loss of the year. Senior goalkeeper Kat Stratton registered her sixth win of the season saving three shots on goal in 90:00 minutes.
Last Sunday, the Tide shutout its third opponent of the season in a defensive showdown thanks to an own goal by the Golden Eagles' defenders. Celia Jimenez Delgado crossed the ball from the right wing into the box that ricocheted off two Tennessee Tech defenders for the lone goal scored in the match. The Crimson Tide collected 13 shots in the game to the Golden Eagles six shots, while Alabama earned eight corners, to Tennessee Tech's two. Kat Stratton had a quiet night in the net as the Golden Eagles failed to put a shot on frame in 90:00 minutes.
SEC OPENERS
The Crimson Tide is 11-10-2 in SEC openers and 5-4-1 when those openers are played away from home. Last season, Alabama toppled Tennessee, 5-1, on Sept. 9 in Knoxville, marking the first win in a conference opener on the road since 2009.
In the Wes Hart era, Alabama holds a 2-0 record in conference openers and has outscored its opponents 8-3.
ALABAMA BY THE NUMBERS
Alabama has dominated its opponents scoring 11 more goals that their contenders (17-6) while launching 72 more shots (145-73) and putting 37 more shots on goal (69-32) than their foes. The Tide averages 2.25 goals per game and 18.1 shots per game.
In 723:30 minutes of play, senior goalkeeper Kat Stratton has held her opponents to 0.75 goals per game and has registered 25 saves and three shutouts.
FRESHMEN TAKING THE LEAD
The Tide freshmen have made huge impacts on the team, scoring seven of Alabama's 17 goals, and seven have earned at least one start with Brynn Martin starting in all eight games. Taylor Morgan is tied for the team lead in goals (3) and ranks third in points (7). Casey Wertz leads the team in shots on goal (13) and shots on goal percentage (.765) while tying for third with Morgan in shots (17).
Kaley Verpaele has emerged as the Tide's go-to for throw-ins as her front handspring toss can travel up to 30 yards and reach inside the box to open up scoring opportunities. In the backfield, defender Brynn Martin has aided in Alabama's 7-1 record and has helped limit UA's opponents to 0.75 goals per game.
MORGAN EARNS WEEKLY HONORS
After notching the game-winning goal against then-No. 6/4 Florida State on Aug. 27, freshman forward Taylor Morgan was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week and was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week. The honors are the first of Morgan's career and the first for Alabama soccer in 2017.
SCORING CENTER BACK
Junior center back Kayla Mouton played a crucial role in Alabama's two wins on opening weekend. Despite being a defender and spending most of her time in the backfield, the junior scored both of the Tide's game-winners. Mouton headed the ball into the back of the net off a corner to break the tie against Jacksonville State, and scored in similar fashion to put the Tide on top against Samford. Mouton's pair of goals on the season surpasses her previous career total.
IN THE SEC
In the conference, the Tide ranks third in shots (145), and is fourth in assists (19), assist per game (2.38), goals (18), points (55) and corners (48). Furthermore, Alabama rounds out the top five in shutouts (3).
Individually, senior Chatham DeProspo ranks fifth in the league in shots (24), and junior Emma Welch is tied for second in assists (5) and third in assists per game (0.62). Kayla Mouton and Taylor Morgan are tied for third in game-winning goals (2) while Kat Stratton leads the SEC in minutes played in goal (723:30), ties for fourth in shutouts (3) and ranks fifth in total saves (25).
IN THE RANKINGS
For the third week in a row, Alabama received several national nods after their 2-0 weekend defeating Kennesaw State and Tennessee Tech to improve to a 7-1 record after eight matches. The Tide moved up three spots from last week's rankings to No. 19 in Soccer America's Women's College Top 25 and was among five programs that were other teams considered on TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's Division I Top-25 rankings. Alabama also earned 17 votes in the NSCAA poll, which is more than double the amount received in week two's rankings.
In the region, UA jumped up to No. 6 on the NSCAA Southeast Region Poll after four weeks of competition.
Nationally, Alabama ranks inside the top-50 in 10 offensive categories including scoring offense (42nd), won-lost-tied percentage (16th), total assists (13th), total goals (16th), total points (17th), shots per game (20th), shots on goal per game (18th) corner kicks per game (49th), assists per game (27th) and points per game (36).
Kayla Mouton and Taylor Morgan are tied for 24th in the nation in game-winning goals while Emma Welch ranks ninth in the country in total assists (5.0) and is tied for 23rd in assists per game (0.63). Furthermore, Kat Stratton ties for 36th in shutouts and 28th in goalie minutes played.
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.
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 – SOUTH CAROLINA
Friday's match against South Carolina marks the 19th meeting in history between the two squads and Alabama trails USC 4-13-1 in the series. In the last meeting, the Gamecocks shutout the Tide, 3-0, on Sept. 27, 2015 in Columbia, S.C. The Crimson Tide recorded its last win over the SEC foe on Nov. 2, 2011 with a 1-0 decision in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The triumph marked the first victory in the conference tournament since 1998.
South Carolina enters Thursday's match ranked third in the country thanks to a 6-1 record and recently knocking off No. 4 Clemson, 1-0, last Friday.
SEC Offensive Player of the Week Elexa Bahr leads the Gamecock offense with four goals, including the game-winner that shutout Clemson. Savannah McCaskill leads the team in four offensive categories including assists (5), points (11), shots (26), shots on goal (9) and penalty kicks (1-1).
The Gamecocks ended the season with a 21-2-1 record, the most wins in program history, was undefeated in the SEC (11-0-0) and became the first school in SEC soccer history to post an unbeaten regular-season mark (17-0-1). South Carolina was also crowned the 2016 SEC Regular-Season Champions and earned the program's first No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed before reaching the Elite Eight for the second time in three years. USC returns 12 letterwinners while welcoming eight newcomers to 2017.
SERIES HISTORY – CHATTANOOGA
Sunday's match against Chattanooga will mark the seventh meeting between the two squads with Alabama holding a 5-1 advantage over the Mocs. In the last meeting, the Tide shutout UTC, 1-0, in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Aug. 28, 2016.
Chattanooga owns a 2-4-2 record with wins over Austin Peay, 3-2, and Alabama A&M, 1-0. In their last match, the Mocs fell to Georgia State, 2-0, in Atlanta.
Jordan Mueller leads the offensive charge with three goals, two assists, eight points and 11 shots on goal. In the net, Melia Correa has made a team-high of 36 saves in 490:00 minutes.
The Mocs wrapped up its 2016 campaign 6-11-2 and finished tied for fifth in the Southern Conference. Chattanooga returns 18 letterwinners while welcoming seven newcomers to 2017.
COMING UP
Alabama will play its conference home opener on Thursday, Sept. 21 against LSU at 7 p.m. CT at the Alabama Soccer Complex and will travel to Gainesville, Fla. to face No. 7 Florida on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. CT. Both matches will air live on SEC Network +.
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.
