Alabama's Soccer Success is Years in the Making

No. 2 Crimson Tide takes on No. 7 Arkansas on Sunday in biggest game in program history.

As Felicia Knox steadily racked up assists this season, Alabama soccer coach Wes Hart casually mentioned to the Crimson Tide junior midfielder that she couldn’t match his school record at the University of Washington.

“I’ve got to beat him,” Knox said after getting two against Ole Miss last week.

She’s knocking on the door. Hart’s single-season record is 15. Knox is sitting at 14.

“The good thing is I control her playing time. We can stop that right now,” Hart said.

He’s joking, of course. Hart has played Knox, who has 14 starts in 15 games, as many minutes as possible this season. And she will be starting Sunday in the biggest soccer match in program history.

The Crimson Tide (13-1-1) moved to No. 2, its highest ever ranking, and faces No. 7 Arkansas at the UA Soccer Complex at 11 a.m. The game will be televised by SEC Network.

Alabama opened the season unranked, but climbed the polls week after week. The Crimson Tide cracked the rankings at No. 18 after big wins over then No. 18 Clemson and No. 6 BYU.

They went to No. 11 a week later and topped No. 5 South Carolina to jump to No. 6. The wins kept coming and Alabama moved to No. 5, and after its 5-0 win at LSU last week, the Crimson Tide jumped from No. 4 to No. 2, just ahead of top-ranked UCLA.

“Whenever that ranking comes out it just fuels us more. It just gives us a sense of belief,” Hart said. “We want to continue to build off the momentum that we’ve created so far.”

Incredible Player, Incredible Teammate, Incredible Year

Check out Riley Mattingly Parker's journey as she went from a redshirt season to Alabama's leading goal scorer. #RollTide pic.twitter.com/pInSy7Hk99

— Alabama Soccer (@AlabamaSoccer) October 12, 2022

It’s quite a situation Hart and the Crimson Tide are in. It’s October and folks around Tuscaloosa are talking about soccer. Sure, football still dominates the conversation, but in those talks about Bryce Young’s injury or whether Bama can beat Tennessee for a 16th straight time, soccer makes its way into the discussion.

So the magnitude of this weekend’s clash with Arkansas isn’t lost on Hart or the Tide.

“You want to treat it like any other game but we know there is a lot at stake,” he said. “(Arkansas is) ranked seventh in the country, it would be huge for our RPI for us wanting a high seed in the NCAA tournament. The winner will likely have a chance to win the SEC.”

It’s no surprise Alabama is enjoying the best season in school history, at least not to Hart or the Tide. This season has been years in the making. The seven graduate students and six seniors have been together for a while. That’s a lot of time together on the pitch, in the weight room and hanging out together.

“We’ve played together long enough to know each other’s tendencies. It shows,” said Knox, who has five goals to go with her 14 assists. “It doesn’t work if our chemistry isn’t there. With teams from the past we’ve almost been there. This year it’s all coming together. That’s the only reason it works.”

Alabama’s reaped the rewards of that chemistry and is looking to add to its 2022 story. Knox leads the SEC in assists and Riley Mattingly Parker is second in the league with 11 goals. Goalkeeper McKinley Crone has six shutouts and has allowed nine goals in 15 starts.

“What’s awesome to see this year is the selflessness of the team,” Hart said. “That’s a core value of ours. You are really seeing a team effort out there.”

Want to see the Crimson Tide or other teams? SI Tickets