Alabama Soccer Starts SEC Action with Ole Miss Before Traveling to DePaul

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama opens Southeastern Conference play and wraps up its seven-game homestand when it welcomes Ole Miss on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by the first away match in four weeks at DePaul on Sunday at 1 p.m. Thursday's contest can be seen on SEC Network + and will be played at the Alabama Soccer Complex. Admission is free for all fans.

ALABAMA WRAPS UP RECORD-TYING SEVEN GAME HOMESTAND WITH A HOME GAME THURSDAY

This year's stretch began Friday, Aug. 24, against FGCU and will last through this Thursday when the Tide opens SEC play against Ole Miss.
The only other time in program history that Alabama played seven consecutive home matches came in 2007. The Tide finished 5-1-1 over the stretch that season.
The Tide has played six games in its current homestand, sporting a record of 5-1 over the stretch.

RECORD BROKEN

Sunday senior Emma Welch shattered the all-time career assists record at the University of Alabama. She surpassed former standout Libby Probst (2002-05) who recorded 19 career assists.
Welch, who was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American and earned a spot on the all-district and all-conference teams a year ago, has collected 21 career assists. Last season, she led the Tide with eight helpers on the year, which tied for second on the school's single-season assist chart.
After breaking the record over the weekend, Welch was recognized by Top Drawer Soccer for Honorable Mention National Team of the Week.

ABOUT ALABAMA

The Tide has found its stride, as it enters Thursday on a five-game winning streak and has scored five or more goals in four of its last five contests.
In the last five games Alabama has outscored the competition by a combined total of 22-2 over the stretch to improve to 5-2-1 on the season.
Alabama seeks to continue its winning ways by earning six consecutive wins in a row. The last time in program history that has been done was in 2002 when the team went 12-6-2.
Head coach Wes Hart is looking to top his five-game streak, as it is the longest win streak held during his era. Last season they came close to breaking it, before falling to South Carolina in the SEC opener.
Hart enters his fourth season at Alabama, with an improved record in each of his first three seasons at the helm of the program. He owns a career record of 31-30-6 over his four seasons, but is 26-18-4 since the 2016 campaign.
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.

ALABAMA BY THE NUMBERS

Alabama has held an edge over its opponents scoring more than double the goals than its opponents (25-8), while launching 74 more shots (162-88), and putting 26 more shots on goal (72-46) than its foes. The Tide averages 3.12 goals per game and 20.2 shots per game.
In 593:32 minutes of play, goalkeeper Alex Plavin has turned in 0.91 goals against average and has registered 27 saves and three shutouts.

SPREADING THE WEALTH

This season Alabama has shown depth in its roster, as 11 different players have scored and tallied assists in the eight games played.
There is a three-way tie for first place in points (10) between Casey Wertz, Abbie Boswell, and Kat Rogers.
Forward Wertz is off to a hot start as she has already scored five goals, leading the team in scoring.
Boswell accumulated two goals and two assists in the 5-0 win over Troy, adding to her season total (3g, 4a).
Rounding out the three-way tie is freshman Rodgers with (4g, 2a), she racked up two goals and two assists in the win over South Alabama.
The shutout over Troy marked to be 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.

FRESH FACES

The Tide's freshman class has already made a big impact, with three freshmen earning starting positions in at least one game so far this season. Riley Mattingly has started seven out of the eight matches, while Kat Rogers has started in the last three games.
Rodgers and Gigi Schorr alone have accounted for seven out of the 25 team goals scored this season.

IN THE SEC

In the conference statistics, the Tide ranks among the league leaders in six ranging categories, and leads the SEC in points (73). Alabama ranks third in shots (162) and assists (23). Just one goal behind Ole Miss, Alabama places second in goals scored per a game with an average of 3.12. Furthermore, Alabama rounds out the top four in goals per game (25) and saves (38).
Individually, sophomore Casey Wertz ranks seventh in the league in goals per game (5), senior Abbie Boswell and sophomore Taylor Morgan are tied at fifth place for assists (4), while sophomore Alex Plavin ranks fifth in saves (27) and shutouts (3).

SEC OPENERS

The Crimson Tide is 11-11-2 in SEC openers and 6-6-1 when those openers are played at home. Last season, Alabama fell at No. 3 South Carolina, 1-0, in the opener.

SCOUTING THE REBELS

Thursday's match against Ole Miss marks the 25th meeting in history, between the two squads. Although the Rebels lead the series 8-16, Alabama won last year's match played on Oct. 26, 2017 at Oxford, Miss., in overtime, 1-0.
Ole Miss was predicted to finish seventh in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll, and currently stands with a 6-2 record.
Senior Kizer is one of the program's most prolific players in its history, coming off a junior campaign in which she led the SEC in both goals and points, becoming Ole Miss' first-ever United Soccer Coaches All-American. Kizer is the NCAA's active leader in career goals with 44. She tied the school record for career goals against FAU on Sept. 9.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEMONS

Sunday's match against DePaul kicks off the inaugural meeting between the two teams.
The Blue Demons have acquired a 4-2-1 season record, before facing Bowling Green on Thursday.
The BIG EAST women's soccer coaches unanimously voted DePaul senior Franny Cerny onto the 2018 Preseason All-BIG EAST. Cerny lands a close second place in leading the team in points (4g, 2a) just behind Morgan Turner (5g, 1a) for 11 points.
Freshman goalkeeper Mollie Eriksson was named last week's BIG EAST Women's Soccer Weekly Honors due to her performance against RV Illinois. In a 3-1 win, Eriksson made a total three saves throughout the game, facing seven shots total.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP

The Alabama soccer team scored two early goals on Sept. 6, against South Alabama, giving the Tide a cushion going into half. Alabama never let off the gas, with three more goals earned in the second half to give the Crimson Tide a 5-1 win.
On Sept. 9, the Crimson Tide shutout its third opponent of the season 5-0, allowing only three shots on goal for Troy.
Schorr scored three goals, Boswell scored the remaining two to lead the Tide and, Welch broke the program's career assist record, totaling 20 assists over her four years.

NON-CONFERENCE CAMPAIGN

Alabama opened the 2018 season with a pair of home matches, as the Tide fell to FGCU, 4-2. Even with FGCU scoring four goals, Plavin made a career-high nine saves in the losing effort.
The Tide earned their first season victory by dominating from start to finish in its 6-0 win over Kennesaw State.
Alabama defeated Virginia Tech 1-0 last Thursday, with the lone goal of the game courtesy of a Virginia Tech own goal.
The 5-1 victory over Rice started off with 1-0 lead heading into the locker room, thanks to Verpaele's goal and Morgan's assist. The Tide finished the second half by scoring four goals in the final 20 minutes, including three in a span of nine minutes, to seal the win. All five of the Crimson Tide's goals were from five different scorers, Verpaele, Duca, Martin, Wertz, and Maartensson.

COMING UP

Alabama continues conference play as it travels to Vanderbilt on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m., followed by hosting Arkansas on Sunday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m.

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.

Alabama Soccer Starts SEC Action with Ole Miss Before Traveling to DePaul

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Abbie Boswell

Christina Maartensson

Riley Mattingly Parker

Taylor Morgan

Alex Plavin

Kat Rogers

Gigi Schorr

Emma Welch

Casey Wertz

University of Alabama Athletics

Alabama Soccer Starts SEC Action with Ole Miss Before Traveling to DePaul

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Abbie Boswell

Christina Maartensson

Riley Mattingly Parker

Taylor Morgan

Alex Plavin

Kat Rogers

Gigi Schorr

Emma Welch

Casey Wertz

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