Soccer Faces First Road Test at Mississippi State Friday

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama soccer will face its first road test of the 2020 season Friday with an away match against Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss. Kickoff from Mississippi State Soccer Field is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on SECN.

About Alabama

Head coach Wes Hart enters his sixth season at Alabama and owns a career record of 45-43-11.
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 with Alabama predicted to finish sixth in the league table as voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.

Last Time Out

The Tide put on an offensive showing in its season home opener, as the Tide topped the Tennessee Volunteers 3-1 at the Alabama Soccer Stadium to move 1-0 on the season (Oct. 19).
Junior Riley Mattingly sounded off for her first goal of the day in the 19th minute of the opening half with a penalty kick to give Alabama the lead.
The Crimson Tide carried the momentum into the second half as Mattingly found the back of the net for her second goal, off a header in the box fed in by freshman Felicia Knox.
It was just a minute later, that sophomore Serena Pham added her name to the scorebook with a goal to close out the scoring for the Tide.
Junior transfer goalkeeper Mckinley Crone collected five saves on the day as she and the Alabama defense only allowed one lone goal on 17 shots from the Volunteers.

Scouting Mississippi State

The Bulldog's roster is made up of 32 players, including 18 returners and 14 newcomers, which includes nine freshmen and five transfers.
Mississippi State returns four of their top five scorers from last season, including Monigo Karnley, Onyi Echegini, Hailey Farrington-Bentil, and Niah Johnson.
Amongst those four, they have a total of 106 shots, 47 shots on goal, 14 goals, 36 points, and eight assists.
In their season opener against the Auburn Tigers, the Bulldogs battled to a 1-1 draw in double overtime on Sept. 18.
MSU finished off 2019 with a record of 8-8-3 in Armstrong's first season, and made it to Orange Beach, Alabama for the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2004.

Series with the Bulldogs

The Alabama soccer team came out victorious against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in overtime, 3-2, on Oct. 4, 2019.
This marked the second consecutive overtime win against an SEC opponent for the Tide last season.
The Crimson Tide got on the board early in the seveth minute with a goal by Reyna Reyes, who found the back of the net following through from a shot by Abby Bivens.
Alabama later increased their lead to two in the 18th minute with Brynn Martin scoring her third goal of the season, assisted by Casey Wertz and Serena Pham.
However, the Bulldogs responded within the last seconds of the first half with a goal by Miranda Carrasco, bringing the score to 2-1.
With an Alabama own goal in the 73rd minute, Mississippi State tied the game.
Gabby Duca secured the win in the 95th minute launching a shot from inside the box, with help by Wertz.

By the Numbers

Side-by-side, Alabama and Mississippi State are matched up very similar in each statistical category entering Friday.
In fact, the Tide has attempted 15 shots and landed 8 on target, scoring on three across the first game of the season, while the Bulldogs have attempted 19 shots with 9 on target and scoring on one lone goal of those attempts.
UA leads in the corner kick category by three (8-5).

Mattingly Makes Moves

After tallying two goals in Saturday's season opener against Tennessee, Mattingly earned a spot on TopDrawerSoccer's Team of the Week.
A native of Flower Mound, Texas, Mattingly, scored two goals and fired three shots with two on frame in 61 minutes of action against Tennessee last Saturday (Sept. 19).
The junior forward led in goals scored and was an offensive force to Alabama's 3-1 victory over the Volunteers.
Across her three seasons at the Capstone, Mattingly has tallied 21 points, with over half the points (11) coming from the 2019 season.

Up Next

The Crimson Tide will continue its road slate Oct. 4 with a trip to Gainesville, Fla., to play the Florida Gators. First touch will be at 4 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed via SECN.

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.