In a night where Alabama soccer’s offense was in full effect, it was a pair of freshmen who led the charge in its 5-1 win over South Alabama on Thursday night.
Kat Rogers doubled her career goals with her second two-goal night. She scored both in the second half to seal Alabama’s win at the Alabama Soccer Complex.
After Rogers and a Jaguar defender battled for the ball, the Jaguar defender fell next to the ball. Rogers quickly stepped up and launched a shot to the bottom right corner.
“It was kind of a scrap,” Rogers said. “The ball was just kind of there. The girl ended up tripping over the ball in the box and then it popped out. I was just there to clean it up. Right place at the right time I guess.”
Her second goal came off a double assist from Gabby Duca and fellow freshman Riley Mattingly.
Mattingly’s key contribution was her ability to set up her teammates. She finished with a pair of assists, the first of her career.
“I think in the past couple of years, we’ve been trying to get the freshmen acclimated and all that, and this year they’ve been great,” midfielder Taylor Hubbard said. “We haven’t even needed to do all that.”
Casey Wertz rebounded a shot off the crossbar and found the back of the net for the first goal of the game and her fifth of the season. Emma Welch scored her first goal of the season and her second career goal in the 22nd minute. The shot came off a cross from Mattingly, who dribbled down to the goal line, and flicked the ball to Welch.
The win is the fourth straight for the Crimson Tide. In that span it has outscored opponents 17-2. In blowout games, it can be hard to keep focus, but Hubbard said coach Wes Hart is the reason the team is able to stay focused.
“We have certain standards and certain goals that we are trying to hit each game,” Hart said. “Regardless of the score we want a set number of crosses… Score is irrelevant.
Alabama plays Troy on Sunday for its last game before it starts SEC play.
