Alabama Advances To The Quarterfinals Of The NCAA Tournament With 3-1 Victory Over UC Irvine

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama’s Felicia Knox scored a pair of goals to lead the No. 1 seed Alabama soccer team past UC Irvine, 3-1, in the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament Sunday at the Alabama Soccer Stadium.

Ashlynn Serepca also found the back of the net for Alabama (22-2-1) when she scored the eventual game-winner in the 66^th minutes as the Tide advanced to the tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

Gallery: (11-20-2022) 11-20-22 WSO vs UC Irvine

“First I want to credit UC Irvine on a great match today. I thought they played us very tough in first half, very difficult, very stingy defensively. I thought the biggest adjustment we made at halftime was talking about our mentality and coming out with more urgency to get forward and be dangerous. I think the team did an awesome job of responding in the second half and putting it together as a team to score goals and win the game.”

How It Happened

• Alabama and UC Irvine remained tied after the opening half, despite the Tide controlling 65 percent of the possession
• Felicia Knox opened the scoring for Alabama with a corner kick that curled towards the back post, finding the side-netting in the 55^th minute
• Four minutes later, Kat Rogers crossed a ball into the box finding Ashlynn Serepca, who gathered it on her feet and hit a volley into the back of the net to make it 2-0 for the Tide
• UC Irvine responded 10 minutes later when Amber Huff played a ball into the box to find Suus de Bakker for a header in the 65^th minute for a 2-1 score
• Knox sealed the contest as she drew a penalty and deposited the ball past the UCI keeper in the 88^th minute

Game Notes

• Alabama has now won 19 straight games at home, including a perfect 12-0 run at the Alabama Soccer Stadium this season
• Knox tallied her seventh and eighth goal in the game, moving her to 35 points on the year
• Additionally, Knox’s goal from the corner flag marked the second time this season she has scored while delivering a corner kick
• Serepca tallied her sixth game-winning goal and ninth overall goal in the 66^th minute of action
• Kat Rogers recorded her ninth assist this season to rank third all-time at Alabama behind Felicia Knox (19) and Merel van Dongen (10)

Next Up

• UA will host the NCAA Quarterfinals on Friday at the Alabama Soccer Stadium
• Alabama will kick off at 6 p.m. CT against the winner of…