Alabama
Kennesaw State
Alabama Soccer Travels to Kennesaw State before Hosting Tennessee Tech
9/6/2017 11:14:00 AM | Soccer
The Tide will play the Owls on Thursday and the Golden Eagles on Sunday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama women's soccer will travel to Kennesaw, Ga. to play Kennesaw State on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. CT at the Fifth Third Bank Stadium and will return to Tuscaloosa on Sunday, Sept. 10 to face Tennessee Tech at 5 p.m. CT at the Alabama Soccer Complex. Thursday's game will air live on ESPN3 and Sunday's match will be broadcasted on SEC Network +.
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Live Stats: Thursday – ksuowls.com /Sunday – rolltide.com
Radio: N/A
Watch: Thursday – ESPN3/Sunday – SEC Network +
Twitter: @Alabama Soccer
STRONG START TO 2017 SEASON
Alabama (5-1) won a pair of matches last weekend in Mobile, Ala at The Cage. The Crimson Tide defeated South Alabama, 2-1, on Friday and shutout Troy, 3-0, on Sunday. Four different ladies scored goals over the weekend with Abbie Boswell netting two against the Trojans.
In the match against South Alabama, the Jaguars tallied the first goal of the game in the fourth minute, but Celia Jimenez Delgado responded with the equalizer, scoring her first goal of the season 13 minutes later. In the second half, Wertz notched the second goal of her career to secure the eighth win over the Jaguars in program history. Kat Stratton registered a season-high of eight saves, recording six in the first half.
On Sunday, Boswell sent in the game-winner on a penalty kick in the first nine minutes of the match and followed with a goal in the second half to put the Tide up by two. In the 83rd minute, Welch scored her second goal of the year off a double assist from freshmen Neaka Khalilian and Nicole Lyubenko to shutout Troy for the fifth time in school history. In the five-game series history between the two squads, Alabama has outscored Troy 24-0. Senior goalkeeper Kat Stratton registered two saves in 90:00 minutes and recorded her second shutout of the year.
ALABAMA BY THE NUMBERS
Alabama has dominated its opponents scoring nine more goals that their contenders (14-5) while launching 54 more shots (114-60) and 25 more shot on goal (53-28) than their foes. The Tide also averages 2.33 goals per game and 19.0 shots per game.
In 543:30 minutes of play, senior goalkeeper Kat Stratton has held her opponents to 0.83 goals per game and has registered 22 saves and two shutouts.
FRESHMEN TAKING THE LEAD
The Tide freshmen have made huge impacts on the team scoring five of Alabama's 14 goals, and seven have earned at least one start with Taylor Morgan and Brynn Martin grabbing starts in all six games. Taylor Morgan is tied for the team lead in goals (2) and is tied for third in points (5). Casey Wertz leads the team in shots on goal (11) and shots on goal percentage (.786) while ranking second in shots (14).
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 5-1 record and has helped limit UA's opponents to 0.83 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 on Sunday 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 (114), sits fourth in assists (14) and assist per game (2.33) and ranks fifth in points (42), goals (14), saves (23) and corners (36).
Chatham DeProspo ranks third in the league in shots (21) and fifth in shots per game (3.50), Kayla Mouton is tied for second in game-winning goals (2), while Kat Stratton sits fifth in total saves (22).
IN THE RANKINGS
For the second week in a row, Alabama received several national nods after their 2-0 weekend in Mobile, Ala. to improve to a 5-1 record after six matches. The Tide moved up two spots to No. 22 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 16 votes in the NSCAA poll, which is double the amount received last week.
UA remained at No. 8 on the NSCAA Southeast Region Poll after three weeks of competition.
Nationally, Alabama ranks inside the top-50 in nine offensive categories including scoring offense (41st), won-lost-tied percentage (26th), assists per game (26th), points per game (38th), assists (15th), goals (22nd), points (22nd), shots per game (14th) and shots on goal per game (21st).
Kayla Mouton is tied for 14th in the nation in game-winning goals while Emma Welch is tied for 42nd in total assists (3.0).
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 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 – KENNESAW STATE
Thursday's match against Kennesaw State marks the fifth meeting in history between the two squads and Alabama leads the series 3-1. In the last meeting, the Tide topped the Owls, 5-1, in Tuscaloosa on Aug. 22, 2014.
Kennesaw State enters Thursday's match with a 4-0-2 record and recently shutout its fourth opponent on the year. The Owls defeated Samford, 1-0, last Sunday to mark the first time KSU has been unbeaten through six matches since 2003.
Ashtah Das and Ida Hepsoe lead the Owls offense with two goals apiece and Tiffany Sornpao recorded a career-high of ten saves in Sunday's match against Samford to increase her season total to 24 saves in 380:00 minutes.
The Owls ended 2016 with a 10-8-1 record, the first ten-win season since 2012, and advanced to the ASUN Conference Tournament semifinals. KSU returns 13 letterwinners and welcomes 13 newcomers.
SERIES HISTORY – TENNESSEE TECH
Sunday's match against Tennessee Tech will mark the fourth meeting between the two squads with Alabama holding a 2-1 advantage over the Golden Eagles. In the last meeting, TTU snapped Alabama's two-game win streak, defeating the Tide, 2-1, in Cookeville, Tenn. on Aug. 30, 2015.
Tennessee Tech boasts a 3-1 record after blanking Georgia State, 1-0, for its third-straight win of the season and the eighth consecutive victory at home.
Three Golden Eagles have scored TTU's three goals on the year and Kari Naerdemann has made 17 saves in 361:55 minutes in the net.
TTU wrapped up its 2016 campaign 11-6-4, finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference and reached the semifinal round of the OVC Tournament. Tennessee Tech returns 18 players and welcomes seven newcomers.
COMING UP
Alabama opens SEC play in Colombia, S.C. on Friday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. CT to take on No. 7 South Carolina, and will return home on Sunday, Sept. 17 to face Chattanooga at 5 p.m. CT. Both games 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.
