Alabama
Tennessee
Soccer Kicks Off 2020 Season with Tennessee Saturday Afternoon
9/18/2020 9:53:00 AM | Soccer
The season-opener is the first Crimson Tide home event of the athletic year
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama soccer team kicks off the 2020 season as well as the Southeastern Conference slate on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT welcoming the Tennessee Volunteers to the Alabama Soccer Complex. The match will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Due to health and safety considerations in addition to the current guidelines, attendance at the Alabama Soccer Complex home competitions is limited to family of student-athletes and each team's coaching staff. There is no public admission to these events and all tailgating in University parking lots is prohibited.
About Alabama
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Head coach Wes Hart enters his sixth season at Alabama and owns a career record of 44-43-11 over his previous five seasons.
- The team returns eight starters and 20 letterwinners from last season's team that finished the 2019 campaign with an overall record of 10-7-3, including a 4-4-2 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
- Last season, Alabama made its 12th appearance at the SEC Tournament, entering at the seventh seed. The Tide made it to the Quarterfinals for only the third time in program history.
- The SEC announced the 2020 Preseason Coaches' Poll on Wednesday, with Alabama predicted to finish sixth in the league table as voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.
Season Openers
- Alabama has won six of its last 10 season openers and has outscored its opponents 25-10. In the last four seasons, the Tide has outscored its competitors by a combined total of 10-3.
- No Place Like Home
- When the Crimson Tide returns to the pitch on Saturday it will be its first match back at Alabama Soccer Stadium since March 7, 2020, when UA hosted the Tennessee Volunteers for a spring match.
Scouting Tennessee
- Last season, Pensky led the Vols to their fifth-straight winning season with a 9-6-3 record overall. UT posted an 8-2 record at Regal Soccer Stadium that included shutout wins over SEC East rivals Florida, Georgia and Kentucky.
- The Vols return 16 letter-winners from the 2019 roster, including SEC All-Freshman goalkeeper Lindsey Romig, who set the all-time single season program record with a 0.58 goals-against average last fall.
- Seniors Wrenne French and Erin Gilroy were both season-long starters for the Vols in 2018, when UT made its first-ever run to the NCAA Quarterfinals and finished the year as a consensus top-10 program.
- Tennessee also welcomes a signing class of eight that was rated No. 23 in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer.
Last Time Out
- Alabama soccer team defeated the Tennessee Vols, 2-1, in double overtime at the Regal Soccer Stadium on Sept. 29, 2019.
- In the second half, Serena Pham got Alabama on the board in the 70th minute with a successful penalty goal, also earning her first career goal.
- Tennessee responded no more than three minutes later and tied the game with Alicia Donley finding the back of the net.
- Both teams remained gridlocked at the end of regulation. Nealy Martin earned the game-winning goal in the 104th minute with a header inside the box.
- Alabama outshot the Vols, 29-11, with 12 being on target. Riley Mattingly led the team firing six shots, followed by Casey Wertz with five.
- The win marked the seventh win against Tennessee in program history, and the third when playing in Knoxville.
Returning Firepower
- Four members were named to the 2020 Southeastern Conference Preseason Watch List, as announced by the league office Thursday.
- Seniors Brynn Martin and Casey Wertz, along with junior Riley Mattingly and sophomore Reyna Reyes earned the preseason honor from the league's coaches.
- Martin is Alabama's leading returning defender, recording 1,786 minutes on the pitch last season, anchoring a back line with four shutouts.
- Mattingly, a junior forward, is the second leading returning points scorer, acquiring 11 points from five goals and one assist last season, including scoring the game-winning goal at Missouri (Oct. 24, 2019).
- A 2019 First Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman honoree, Reyes plays a duel threat as midfielder and defender. She played and started in 18 matches as a freshman.
- Wertz enters her senior campaign as the Tide's top offensive option, leading the team last season in goals (6), assists (7) and points (19).
Conference Hot Streak
- During 2019 conference play, the Crimson Tide achieved the longest SEC unbeaten streak in Alabama history, six games.
- Consisting of four wins and two ties against conference foes, the team surpassed the old record of four games (1997, 1998, 2017) by two.
Following Saturday's match against Tennessee, the Tide will face a pair of consecutive road conference matches starting with Mississippi State (Sept. 25) shadowed by Florida (Oct. 4).
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaSoccer on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. General athletic news can be found at @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and @AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
