Alabama Soccer Earns No. 1 Seed in NCAA Tournament

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It's official.

For the first time in program history, Coach Wes Hart and the Alabama Crimson Tide soccer team is No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Crimson Tide will host SWAC Champion Jackson State University this Friday.

"Super excited," Hart said about the team's seeding. "To be a 1-seed, I can't even describe the feeling. Looking at where we started a few years ago and where we're at now, just all the hard work that was put in, it's pretty incredible."

Alabama was one win shy of completing a perfect SEC season - going undefeated in regular season conference play and tournament play before losing to South Carolina in the championship game. Riley Mattingly Parker, who's top-10 in goals scored in the country, talked about the time after the loss leading up to the announcement.

"I woke up a little sad, feeling sorry for myself," she said with a laugh after the bracket was announced on Monday. "Then as the time got closer to get with the team, there was more excitement than sadness. Less thinking about yesterday, more thinking about ‘Okay, this is a new season.’

“The stakes are high, it's a one-and-done thing, but it all starts over right now and anything can happen. So it's time to stop worrying about what happened yesterday and start focusing on Friday."

When asked about how he'll gameplan for the Crimson Tide's match on Friday, he said that he plans to complete his due diligence and watch some games of the Lady Tigers, but then explained how the team's preparation is more about internal growth than what the other team does.

"We've probably done a lot less of that this year than in any other year," Hart said. "Certainly, we'll watch a couple games of Jackson State, but the majority of our preparation has been about preparing our team. Knowing if we play our game, if we play our style, if we impose our will on the game, then we're gonna give ourselves a pretty good chance of winning this year.

"Majority of our preparation is gonna be making sure we've got our legs under us first and foremost, and then approaching the game with the right mentality, making sure we do the things that make us Alabama soccer and if we do, we're gonna be successful."

Duke is the No. 2 seed in Alabama’s region, with South Carolina third. The Gamecocks edged the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament championship game 1-0 on Sunday.

The winner will face the surviving team between Arizona State and Portland on Nov. 18.

Friday’s game will kick off at 6 p.m. CT in Tuscaloosa, at the Alabama Soccer Stadium.

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