CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's soccer embarks on the program's third NCAA Women's College Cup appearance on Friday evening when the Catamounts battle the Alabama Crimson Tide out of the SEC in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with free live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: Western Carolina (13-4-3, 7-2 SoCon) vs Alabama (11-4-5, 5-4-1 SEC)
Date: Friday, Nov. 10
Time: 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT
Site: Alabama Soccer Stadium (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
Live Stats: NCAA
Live Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @Catamountsoccer
The Catamounts enter the NCAA tournament off of three consecutive shutout wins that carried WCU to the program's third Southern Conference championship and the first 2008 with a 1-0 win last Sunday against third-seeded Samford.
WCU's defense stood tall this season, especially in the SoCon tournament with three shutouts propelling the Catamounts to the crown. The backend of the WCU squad is led by second-team all-conference goalkeeper Leanne Trudel, who totaled a league-high nine shutouts as the Catamounts finished with 12 clean sheets as a team in 2023. The backline was also carried by the SoCon tournament's Most Outstanding Player in defender Paige McAra who was a part of a defense that didn't allow a goal in the tournament.
In WCU's 13 victories, which tied for fourth-most in a single season for the Catamount program, the squad has only allowed one goal coming back on August 23 against Winthrop.
WCU sophomore forward Isabella Demarco was named the 2023 SoCon Women's Soccer Player of the Year, headlining seven Catamounts named to the All-SoCon team voted on by the league's head coaches at the end of the regular season. Demarco, who was also named first-team All-SoCon, is the first Catamount women's soccer player to collect the league's top player honor since the program was founded back in 1999. Demarco was joined on the top honorary squad by junior midfielder Naya Marcil and senior defender Becca Campbell. Sophomore defender Sarah Engen and second-year goalkeeper Leanne Trudel both landed on the second-team all-conference, with freshmen Sophia Goclowski and Emma Soucy both collecting SoCon All-Freshman plaudits. Additionally, head coach Chad Miller was selected as the SoCon Coach of the Year, becoming just the second WCU skipper to earn the honor.
Alabama carries an 11-4-5 overall record after being eliminated by Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC Tournament that was held in Pensacola, Fla. Under the direction of Wes Hart in his ninth year, the Crimson Tide earned wins over #17 Memphis and tallied a pair of ties against #3 North Carolina and #23 Georgia this season. The Tide rolls into the postseason for a third-consecutive season and a sixth time in program history.
Alabama is led by three first-team All-SEC honorees as Gianna Paul has a team-high eight goals while Felica Knox has four goals and a team-high six assists. The first-team trio is wrapped up by defender Gessica Skorka who's added four assists in her 2023 season. Newcomer Nadia Ramadan earned SEC Freshman Team honors after finishing with four goals in her debut season with Alabama.
In goal, Coralie Lallier totaled six wins including three shutouts as Lallier added 30 saves to her stat line in 2023. Dylan Pixton has five wins and four clean sheets as Pixton has allowed just eight goals and totaled 27 saves.
WCU and Alabama have faced a pair of common opponents during the 2023 campaign as WCU earned a pair of wins over Samford including the SoCon title match, while the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide battled to a 0-0 draw. The second common opponent for the two teams is Mercer as both earned wins against the Bears with WCU winning 2-1 and Alabama tallying a 5-1 victory.
Western Carolina is embarking on its third NCAA tournament as the Catamounts battle their first opponent outside of the state of North Carolina. Both of WCU's prior visits in the NCAA tournament were trips to Chapel Hill to battle the University of North Carolina. The Catamounts and Crimson Tide have never met before Friday's scheduled matchup in Tuscaloosa. WCU has only faced three teams out of the SEC all-time – Auburn (0-1), South Carolina (1-1), and Tennessee (0-3) – posting a 1-5 record. Friday's match also marks the first time since 2010 that WCU has faced an SEC school since traveling to Auburn to face the Tigers.
The winner of the match advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and will face either Towson or North Carolina at a to be determined location with the contest slated to take place on November 17th.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's soccer and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @Catamountsoccer).
