Alabama Soccer Well Represented on SEC Preseason Watchlist
The 2023 Alabama soccer team will have to make itself comfortable with high expectations, as those come with the territory when someone makes a perfect run through the SEC gauntlet and ends up in the College Cup for the first time. The No. 7 Crimson Tide had five players named to the SEC Preseason Watchlist, the same number as last season.
This season's Crimson Tide representatives are a different group than last season's. Midfielder Felicia Knox appears on both lists and is the only holdover from 2022. The other four players are now in the National Women's Soccer League. Knox's appearance is her third, in recognition of her All-America campaign last fall which saw her lead the nation in assists.
Macy Clem, Gianna Paul, Sasha Pickard and Gessica Skorka are the other Alabama players named to the watchlist. Paul, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Year, is a key component of the offensive attack. Her role as a striker is much larger now that Riley Mattingly Parker is gone.
Clem, Alabama's holding midfielder, is both physical and versatile. She had five goals to her name in 2022 and opted to run it back for one more season. She also made the preseason watchlist in 2021.
At center back, Pickard is one of the preeminent individual defensive forces in the entire conference. Last season, she played a key role in the Crimson Tide's record-setting 12 shutouts and earned Second Team All-SEC honors. She joins Clem as one of the 2023 team's most experienced players, also taking an extra year to try and finish what last season's squad started.
Skorka is a fourth-year senior who made her first preseason watchlist appearance. She and Pickard are two anchors of the Alabama back line, which struck fear in its 2022 opponents even before they reached the goalkeeper. Skorka had a great year, with seven assists and two goals of her own. The back line is one of the more experienced units on the team.
The final days of the offseason are here, and Alabama finally gets underway in the regular season on Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. CT. The Crimson Tide will take on DePaul.
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