2019 Schedule Set for Alabama Soccer
6/4/2019 5:41:00 PM | Soccer
The Crimson Tide is scheduled to play against 12 opponents who made the 2018 NCAA Tournament
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's soccer team will square off with 12 NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago, as fifth-year head coach Wes Hart announced the 2019 schedule on Wednesday.
"We are very excited for the 2019 season," said Hart. "I believe our non-conference schedule is well balanced and will challenge us and help us prepare for a very difficult Southeastern Conference schedule. The SEC has been one of the toughest conferences in the country the past few years and just keeps getting better."
START OF THE SEASON
Alabama will open play at home on August 22, against the BYU Cougars and close the regular season at home against defending conference champions the Vanderbilt Commodores on October 31. The slate, which is chock-full of top 25 opponents, features 10 home games and 10 road contests, including two home exhibition matches against the UCF Knights (Aug. 11) and South Alabama Jaguars (Aug. 17)
Alabama hosts its first four games of year at the Alabama Soccer Stadium, after UCF and South Alabama the Tide will square off against a pair of fresh faces meeting BYU (Aug. 22) and Utah (Aug. 25) for the first time in program history.
After a four-game homestand, Alabama travels to Texas to face Rice (Aug. 29) and Lamar (Sept. 1). The Tide stays on the road to play ACC foe Virginia Tech (Sept. 5), Chattanooga (Sept. 8) and wraps up a five-game road slate with a local match at Jacksonville State (Sept. 12).
Alabama kicks off a tough eight-match stretch in mid-September when they face eight consecutive NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.
The stretch begins when Alabama returns to its home pitch to close off its nonconference schedule against North Texas on Sept. 15, before commencing SEC play at Arkansas (Sept. 22). Then, the Crimson Tide will host the South Carolina Gamecocks on Sept. 26, marking the first time the two teams have met in Tuscaloosa since the 2014 season.
Alabama will continue to alternate home and away series with a trip to Tennessee (Sept. 29), before hosting Mississippi State (Oct. 4) and embarking back on the road at Texas A&M (Oct. 10).
The Crimson Tide will host the LSU Tigers on October 13, before wrapping up its regular-season road slate at Ole Miss (Oct. 17) and Missouri (Oct. 24). Hart and his team close out the regular season with a pair of matches at home against in-state rival the Auburn Tigers (Oct. 27) and the defending conference champions the Vanderbilt Commodores (Oct. 31).
NON-CONFERNCE HIGHLIGHTS
The Crimson Tide posted a 6-2-1 mark in non-conference action last season and are 22-8-3 overall in non-conference play since Hart has taken over the program in 2015.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Crimson Tide have a truly competitive schedule on tap this year, with 12 of their 19 opponents having made last year's NCAA Tournament and five opponents that finished the 2018 season in the top 25. Eight of the Tides' opponents won at least one game in the 2018 tournament (Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Tennessee, South Carolina, LSU, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Arkansas).
TIDE OUTLOOK
Alabama finished last season with an 8-8-3 overall record and returns 16 players from that squad, while also bringing in the No. 12 recruiting class in the nation. The Crimson Tide returns leading scorer junior Casey Wertz and junior goalkeeper Alex Plavin, along with a highly-touted group of incoming freshmen.
For all the latest information on the team follow @AlabamaSoccer on Twitter, Instangram and Facebook. General Alabama Athletics news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
