LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The 2015 women's soccer senior class will look to maintain West Alabama's place at the top of the Gulf South Conference standings and improve on its regional ranking when the team takes on rival North Alabama for "Senior Day" at Tiger Stadium on Sunday.
The match will be the first of a final two match home stand for West Alabama. Home field advantage will play a vital role, as the Tigers are 6-0 in Tiger Stadium this year. The UWA Athletics department will be giving away five Tiger prize packages to five lucky UWA students and a grand prize of Beats By Dre headphones in the second half.
UWA (10-3; 8-1 in the GSC), who is ranked No. 21 in the nation by the NSCAA, will honor four of its four-year veterans prior to kick off with UNA (11-2-1; 7-2)at 1 p.m.
With three regular season matches left, Defender's
Lauren Tate and
Perri Lambert along with midfielder's
Rianna Gurvitz and
Katy Morris are each wrapping up their careers as UWA Tigers.
This season, Tate and Lambert have led a defense that has limited opponents to 13 goals, 66 shots on-goal and seven shutouts in 13 matches. In contrast the offense, with the help of Gurvitz and Morris, has totaled 30 goals and 100 shots on-goal.
Tate, a native of Essex, England, posted one assist this season on the game-winning goal against Christian Brothers University. She has contributed seven goals and six assists in her career, with four goals as a sophomore. A native of Chelsea, Ala., Lambert has come off the back line to total four career goals and one assist.
Gurvitz, a Daphne, Ala. native, is one of nine Tigers to find the net this season with one goal and one assist. She owns five career goals and six assists, posting a pair of goals in both her freshman and sophomore seasons.
Morris is a native of Wigan, England. She is UWA's second leading scorer this year with six goals, setting the program record for most single game goals of four against Georgia Southwestern. In her four years she has tallied 16 total goals and 21 assists through 69 matches.
The class will look to lead the Tigers to its best league finish in the program's fifth year of existence, as they currently sit No. 1 in the GSC; one game ahead of UNA in second place. Regional rankings, as well as NCAA tournament hopes, will also be at stake. On Tuesday, the NCAA announced North Alabama as the second team in the Division II South region, while West Alabama ranked eighth.
Free pizza for all fans will be given away at the final home match against West Georgia on Wednesday. The match will be slated for 7 p.m.
