GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | TICKETS | PROMOTIONS
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State soccer team begins its drive for a third Atlantic Sun Conference title in the last six years when it officially opens the 2012 season against Southeastern Conference (SEC) foe Alabama on Friday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. ET, followed by a 1 p.m. showdown with Alabama A&M on Sunday, Aug. 19. Both matches will be held at KSU Stadium.
Live stats and video streaming will be available for both games this weekend via ksuowls.com. Matches will be streamed through ASun.TV and is a free service for fans effective this fall.
Entering Friday’s contest, KSU is 4-4 in season openers since making the transition to Division I in 2004.
The Owls look to rebound after a 7-8-2 season that included a 3-5-1 mark in Atlantic Sun conference play and missed the conference tournament with a seventh place finish. KSU may have lost several players from the 2011 squad, but talent still abounds in the 2012 edition.
Redshirt-sophomore
Katrina Frost (Fayetteville, Ga./South Carolina) was tabbed A-Sun Conference Preseason Player of the Year, as well as to the All A-Sun Preseason Team, after tallying a team-high 11 goals, including three game-winning goals, and 24 points in 2011. She led KSU in almost every offensive category and was named to the All A-Sun Second and All A-Sun Freshman Teams for her efforts.
Fellow redshirt-sophomore
Jewelia Strickland (Fayetteville, Ga./Alabama) was also named to the All A-Sun Preseason Team after earning All A-Sun Freshman Team honors a season ago. Strickland was one of only four Owls, including Frost, to start all 17 matches in 2011. She captained a KSU defense that finished fourth in conference play with a 1.08 Goals Against Average, while finishing second on the team in assists with four and second in minutes played with 1,465.
Frost and Strickland are two of five starters returning for the 2012 season. The others include junior defender
Tasia Williams (Waldorf, Md./Auburn), senior defender
Lexi Hastings (Ontario, Canada/Lassiter) and senior goalkeeper
Melissa Hutto (Pensacola, Fla./South Alabama).
KSU adds three newcomers to the mix this season in senior goalkeeper
Lauren Roberts (Rome, Ga./Marshall) and freshmen midfielders
Hannah Churchill (Bristol, England/Filton College) and
Danielle Gray (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh HS). Along with these additions redshirt-freshmen forwards #Chelsea O’Callaghan# (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington East Girls’ College) and
Heather Joyce (Carrollton, Ga./Carrollton HS) figure to push the 12 letterwinner returnees for playing time.
Sophomore midfielder
Julia Nelson (Marietta, Ga./Hillgrove HS) returns after winning a gold medal and the Golden Boot Award with the United States Women’s National Deaf Team at the Second World Deaf Football Championships in Ankara, Turkey in July, while senior midfielder
Liz Blackburn (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue East HS), Hastings, Hutto and Roberts, finish their Owls career this season.
Kennesaw State earned a 5-1 victory over Clayton State in its lone exhibition of the preseason. O’Callaghan tallied two goals, while Frost, Gray and sophomore
Iyani Hughes (Chelsea, Ala./Chelsea) added scores in the victory. Roberts and Hutto split time minding the net.
After its first NCAA tournament berth since 1998, Alabama was picked to finish fourth in the SEC Western Division as voted by the conference coaches. The Crimson Tide finished 10-9-3, including a 4-5-2 mark in league play last season. The series is tied at 1-1-0, with UA earning its first win over the Owls last season following a 7-1 victory over KSU in Tuscaloosa. Alabama is coming off a 1-0 loss at Clemson it its only exhibition match of 2012.
The Owls look to continue their dominance over Alabama A&M on Sunday. KSU owns a 4-0-0 record against the Bulldogs, including last season’s 8-0 win in Kennesaw. AAMU had a 1-14-1 mark in 2011 and went 1-6-1 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The Bulldogs return 15 players from a season ago and open their season versus South Carolina State in Atlanta on Friday.
KSU continues its schedule at home against cross-town rival Georgia State on Friday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.
Season tickets for soccer are available for just $30 for all 10 regular-season home contests, with general admission seating in the stadium. Tickets can be purchased online at ksuowls.com, by clicking the “Purchase Tickets” link in the middle of the website, or by calling the athletics ticket office at (770) 423-6957. Following Friday’s contest, season tickets will drop to $27 for the remaining nine matches.
Keep up with Owls soccer this year by following KSU on Twitter at @KSUOwlNation and @ksuOWLSsoccer, or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on Facebook.
