Alabama
Tennessee
Alabama Soccer Hosts No. 25 Tennessee Thursday on the SEC Network
9/27/2017 11:13:00 AM | Soccer
The Tide plays its fourth conference match on Thursday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama women's soccer looks to pick up its first conference win on Thursday, Sept. 28 when it plays No. 25 Tennessee at the Alabama Soccer Complex at 6 p.m. CT. Thursday's conference showdown will be broadcast live on SEC Network.
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WEEKEND RECAP
Alabama (8-3-1) picked up its first draw of the season against LSU on Thursday and fell to No. 6 Florida, 3-0, on Sunday to move to 0-2-1 after three conference matches.
Alabama tied LSU, 1-1, in double overtime at the Alabama Soccer Complex. After the Tigers tallied a quick goal in the sixth minute, the Crimson Tide offense responded with a goal in the 50th minute, when junior Christina Maartensson headed one into the back of the net after junior Emma Welch crossed the ball into the box to tie the game up at 1-1. Maartensson's goal was only the third given up by LSU this season. Alabama dominated the ball outshooting LSU 44-8 and earned 15 corners to the Tigers' two. The Tide's 44 shots ranks second all-time in school history.
After a scoreless first half on Sunday, Florida tallied two quick goals to start the second and extended its lead to 3-0 in the 76th minute. Although Alabama outshot Florida 10-9, the Gators were able to capitalize on three shots on goal to defeat the Crimson Tide. Junior Abbie Boswell led the Tide in shots with three and one on goal, while seniors Celia Jimenez Delgado and Alexis Mouton fired out two shots apiece. Senior goalkeeper Kat Stratton made five saves in 90:00 minutes in the net.
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 two shutout losses to top-10 opponents South Carolina (3) and Florida (6).
The Tide's lone goal was scored in a draw against LSU off the head of Christina Maartensson, her first of the season. Overall, the Tide has been outscored, 5-1, but has put up a whopping 62 shots after three conference matches, including a season-high of 44 against LSU. Goalkeeper Kat Stratton has registered 10 saves in 290:00 minutes.
NON-CONFERENCE CAMPAIGN
Alabama wrapped up its 2017 non-conference slate 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, netting two goals for Alabama, 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.
SEC OPENERS
After the Tide's loss to South Carolina, The Crimson Tide is 11-11-2 in SEC openers and 5-5-1 when those openers are played away from home.
In the Wes Hart era, Alabama holds a 2-1 record in conference openers and has outscored its opponents 8-4.
ALABAMA BY THE NUMBERS
Alabama has held the upper hand over its opponents scoring 10 more goals than their contenders (21-11) while launching 127 more shots (231-104) and putting 46 more shots on goal (96-50) than their foes. The Tide averages 1.75 goals per game and 19.2 shots per game.
In 1103:30 minutes of play, goalkeeper Kat Stratton has held her opponents to 0.92 goals per game and has registered 37 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 shots (32) while Casey Wertz leads the team in shots on goal (17) and shots on goal percentage (.654).
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 second in shots (231), is third in corners (79) and rounds out the top five in points (62) and goals (21). 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 for fourth in assists per game (0.50). Freshman Taylor Morgan is ranked 10th in shots per game (2.91) and rounds out the top nine in total shots with junior Abbie Boswell (32). Furthermore, goalkeeper Kat Stratton is ranked fifth in saves (38) and shutouts (4).
IN THE RANKINGS
Alabama was ranked in several national polls for four-straight weeks after its victory over Florida State. The Tide first appeared on the Soccer America rankings 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 second NCAA Ratings Percentage Index of the year, the Tide moved up to No. 28 and received three votes on the NSCAA national poll for week six.
In the region, UA dropped down three spots to No. 9 on the NSCAA Southeast Region Poll for week six.
Nationally, Alabama ranks inside the top-50 in six categories including shots per game (10th), corner kicks per game (24th), shots on goal per game (25th), assists (45th), goals (40th) and points (45th).
Kat Stratton ranks sixth in the country in goalie minutes played (1103:30) and sits 40th in shutouts (4). Emma Welch is ranked 12th in the nation in total assist (6) and 42nd in assists per game (0.50).
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 – TENNESSEE
Thursday's match against Tennessee marks the 20th meeting in history between the two squads, and Alabama trails 6-12-1 in the series. In the last meeting, Alabama defeated Tennessee, 5-1, on Sept. 9, 2016, on the road in the conference opener, which was the first SEC road opener win in program history since 2009.
Tennessee enters Thursday's match 9-1-1 and 1-1-1 in conference play, picking up its lone SEC victory over Kentucky, 3-0, on Sept. 17.
Khadija Shaw leads the Lady Vols with eight goals, 39 shots, 18 points and 16 shots on goal. Her eight goals are good for third in the SEC and 10th in the country.
The Lady Vols ended their 2016 campaign 11-9-1, the third 10-win season since 2012, and fell to Auburn in the quarterfinal round of the 2016 SEC Tournament.
COMING UP
Alabama will continue its conference slate on the road on Thursday, Oct. 5 at No. 23 Texas A&M at 7 p.m. CT in College Station, Texas and 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 +.
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.
