Alabama Soccer's Main Focus Ahead of NCAA Tourney: Itself

Wes Hart and the Crimson Tide look to keep the focus internally.

Mason Smith | Nov 11, 2022

When most players and coaches talk about what's helped make their program successful, part of the answer usually involves preparation.

They'll talk about how they don't take any teams for granted, how well they study their opponents and how the team comes into each game with a game plan ready to be executed.

For Alabama, a lot of that remains true. Wes Hart and the staff make sure to prepare properly for each game and the players train throughout the week in order to be ready to compete at their highest level. Nothing like that is out of the ordinary compared to to other programs.

But there is a slightly unique aspect that Hart and his players have stated throughout their historic season that saw the program shatter numerous records and earn a No. 1 Seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history: a lot of the game plan is internal.

Yes, every team works on how it can improve on a day-to-day basis, from fitness and recovery, to offensive identities and defensive execution.

For Alabama, however, it really is about how the team can further perfect its craft, from pressing to hunting to how it defends as a team. That does not mean Hart and the Tide do not do their due diligence: they watch tapes of Jackson State, their first opponent and champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. It means that the team has such a high level of execution and aggression that it can force its will on the game, regardless of who's on the other side.

"When you get into this point of the season, it's all about each game and every given moment," goalkeeper McKinley Crone said when spoke to the media leading up to the game. "Each team matters just as much as the next does, but ultimately we want to focus on ourselves and what we can do best for each game.

"Jackson State's a great team, but ultimately it's back to what we do. Making sure we're pressing right from the start and asserting ourselves right away."

The Lady Tigers' calling card is their defense, which is supported by giving up the least amount of goals among all SWAC schools. It will be a battle of strengths however, as Alabama has one of the strongest offenses in the country, led by Riley Mattingly Parker's goal-scoring, Felicia Knox's facilitating and Gianna Paul's athleticism that causes mismatches for opposing defenses.

But again, for Wes Hart, it is not primarily about what another team can or cannot do. It is about what his team is capable of and maximizing that potential at every opportunity.

"Our philosophy all year long has been focusing on us," Hart said to the media. "We'll certainly watch film on different, but really it's about making sure we do the things that we do well."

Luckily for Hart, his team can do a lot of things well, which is evident by the number of awards the team racked up before SEC Tournament play, and again when three more players, Crone, Sasha Pickard and Ashlynn Serepca, earning selections to the All-Tournament team.

All that is behind them now, though. From here on in, it is win or go home, and the Crimson Tide must win six more times to live forever as national champs, starting with Jackson State.

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