Alabama
Florida
Alabama Soccer Hosts Florida for Senior Night
10/13/2018 12:00:00 PM | Soccer
The Crimson Tide will face the Gators Sunday at 4 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama women's soccer continues its conference slate at home against the Florida Gators on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT at the Alabama Soccer Complex. The Crimson Tide's five seniors will be honored before kickoff. Admission to home games is free for all fans, and the contest will air on ESPNU.
ACTIVITIES
- Seniors recognized pre-game
- Poster Making & Yard Games
ALABAMA BY THE NUMBERS
The Crimson Tide is 7-7-1 and 1-5-0 in SEC play.
Alabama holds an edge over its opponents this season scoring 11 more goals than the opposition (34-23), while launching 71 more shots (257-186), and putting 27 more shots on goal (118-91) than its foes. The Tide averages 2.27 goals per game and 17.1 shots per game.
In 1223:32 minutes of play, goalkeeper Alex Plavin has turned in 1.54 goals against average and has registered 56 saves and four shutouts.
Alabama recorded its fourth shutout of the season on Sept. 16, with a 1-0 win over DePaul.
Alabama was picked to finish eighth in the SEC by a vote of the league's head coaches. The Tide had five players who were selected to the SEC Preseason Watch List: Forwards Abbie Boswell and Casey Wertz along with midfielders Christina Maartensson, Taylor Morgan and Emma Welch.
LAST WEEK'S RECAP
Alabama picked up its first SEC win on Oct. 4, outscoring Kentucky 4-3, in a thrilling match. Senior Casey Wertz scored two goals, including the game winner goal, which senior Christina Maartensson and sophomore Taylor Morgan each tallied a goal on the night.
The Tide traveled to Mississippi State on Oct. 7, falling 5-0. The Tide rallied to score the final two goals of the game. Freshman Riley Mattingly scored her first career goal, and junior Tori Gann scored her first goal of the season.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
This season Alabama has shown depth in its roster, with 14 different players scoring and tallying assists in the 15 games played.
Leading the team in goals (8) and points (16), is sophomore Casey Wertz, who accumulated two more goals on Oct. 4, against Kentucky.
Senior Abbie Boswell leads the team in assists (6) and shots (57).
Rounding out the top three in points (10), is freshman Kat Rogers (4g, 2a), who racked up two goals and two assists in the 5-1 win over South Alabama.
The 5-0 shutout over Troy on Sept. 9, was a big day for redshirt-freshman Gigi Schorr, as she recorded her first career goal, but did not stop there and tallied two more goals for a hat trick.
NON-CONFERENCE CAMPAIGN
The Tide completed a seven-game homestand to start the season. Sporting a record of 5-2 over the stretch, and a 6-2 non-conference record.
The Tide outscored its opponents 26-9, outshot its non-conference foes 177-101 and put 79 shots on frame to their opponents' 51.
Goalkeeper Alex Plavin and the Alabama defense shutout four teams and allowed a total of only eight goals (0.89 goals per game).
The only non-conference home loss came Aug. 24, when the Tide fell to FGCU, 4-2. Even with FGCU scoring four goals, Plavin made a career-high nine saves in the losing effort.
Perhaps Alabama's best non-conference match was against Troy on Sept. 9. The Crimson Tide shutout its third opponent of the season 5-0, allowing only three shots on goal for Trojans. Gigi Schorr completed a hat trick, scoring three goals. Abbie Boswell scored the remaining two to lead the Tide, and Emma Welch broke the program's career assists record, totaling 21 assists.
2018 SEC PLAY
The Tide has been outscored, 15-8, but has put up just five fewer shots than its opponents, 85-80.
Alabama fell to the SEC leader Vanderbilt, on Sept. 20, 3-2. The Commodores scored late in the first half, but Alabama got on the board in the 59th minute when sophomore Casey Wertz scored her sixth goal of the season to tie the game. Both teams scored in the 71st minute of the game, including senior Emma Welch's second goal of the season. Vanderbilt scored one last time to finalize the game.
After 90 minutes of hard-fought defense, the Tide fell to Arkansas on Sept. 23, 1-0.
Alabama fell to LSU 2-0 on Sept. 27, as the Tiger's struck a goal in each half. Following the Tide's efforts in Baton Rouge, senior Abbie Boswell landed second place in the league for shots and shots per game (17), after launching eight shots, four being on goal.
IN THE SEC
In the conference statistics, the Tide falls just a few spots back from the Gators, who have nine more shots (89-80) and three more goals (11-8).
Individually, senior Abbie Boswell, ranks sixth in the league with shots and shots per game (20).
Senior Emma Welch and freshman Kaitlyn Madden are tied for ninth place in the conference for assists (2).
At 24 saves, sophomore Alex Plavin, rounds out the top five in saves and saves per game, while Florida ranks 14th.
COACHES CORNER
Coach Wes Hart on Florida: "Florida is kind of in a place where we are, both struggling to get results. It's two good soccer teams that are trying to find their way and are tweaking their formations and lineups too. We are both trying to find out what is going to work, it will be interesting to see the game. I've got a ton of respect for Florida. I think they have a ton of talent so many good players and a nice attractive brand of soccer, but for whatever reason they aren't getting results right now.
Coach Wes Hart on the senior class: "It's hard to believe it is already here. The year has gone by fast. This senior class came in with me, and this is the first senior class that I have actually been with them for four years. They have played a big role in our success the past couple of seasons. We have Abbie Boswell scoring goals, Emma Welch providing assists, and Christina Maartensson starting in a lot of games and even scored a goal against Kentucky the other day. Elena Zang started in a lot of games early on as a left back. Last but not least Tori Gan, who put up a goal the other day against Mississippi State. They each have contributed in one way or another, so it is crazy to think it is coming to an end."
PLAYER PERSPECTIVE
Freshman Riley Mattingly on SEC play: "In practice we are going to work on getting out and competing against one another more. I think especially at the beginning, we dropped some games that we should have won. I think we came out of those games with a good sense of urgency, but since then, I think we got a little discouraged. We are going to work on competing and trying to play some good soccer."
SCOUTING THE GATORS
Sunday's match against Kentucky marks the 23rd meeting in history between the two squads, as Alabama trails the series, 1-19-2. The most recent meeting ended in Alabama falling 3-0 at Florida, on Sept. 24, 2017.
The Crimson Tide lone victory against Florida came in 2012, when the Tide shutout the Gators 1-0 in Tuscaloosa.
Florida enters Sunday's match owning a 4-8-2 overall record. In SEC play, the Gators have yet to find a win in October, as they sport a 2-3-1 record.
The Gators lead the conference in assists (15) and place second in corners (41).
After scoring four goals in a two-match span, Gator senior Laís Araujo was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for Sept. 24. Araujo leads Florida with five goals and two assists
COMING UP
Alabama plays Texas A&M for its final home game of the regular season, Thursday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. CT
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.
