Alabama soccer coach Wes Hart: 'I hope we made believers out of a lot of people'

CARY, N.C. — After bowing out of the NCAA College Cup semifinals in a big loss to UCLA semifinal Friday at WakeMed Soccer Park, it would have been understandable if Alabama soccer players came into the news conference with their heads down.

Instead, as Reyna Reyes, McKinley Crone and Riley Mattingly Parker waited for coach Wes Hart, Parker asked the media if anyone had a joke. When no one gave her one, it was Crone who delivered one, getting a laugh from the room.

For a Crimson Tide program that was making its first College Cup appearance and had only made it past the first round once before, it showed the composure of the veteran-led group, a big reason it had the most success in program history.

The Bruins defeated Alabama 3-0.

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"When I first committed here, we were ranked 200-something," Reyes said. "One thing Wes told me when I was committing here was, 'You don't want to go to a program that's already set and have that background. You come to a program where you can change it.'

"That set a challenge in my mind. I knew the players that we had and the players coming in, we had the potential and it didn't happen overnight − like it took four years. And finally, all the pieces fell together, we had a perfect season. We were the No. 1 seed in the NCAA and we managed to get to the College Cup. Like, what more can you ask for?"

Hart, in his eighth season, led Alabama (23-3-1) to its first-ever SEC regular-season championship. Before the loss in the semifinals, UA had not lost a game by more than a goal and had not allowed more than two goals in a game all season.

"You have to give props, credit where credit is due," Parker said. "Not only did it fall for (the Bruins), but they're just great players and wasn't necessarily falling for us."

Prior to this season, the Crimson Tide never had anyone make an All-American team. Reyes, Parker and Felicia Knox were named to the United Soccer Coaches All-America team, the organization announced Friday.

Reyes was named the SEC Defender of the Year and Knox was named SEC Midfielder of the Year. Both Reyes and Parker were named MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalists.

"I'm just so incredibly proud of my team. And I thought we battled hard, we fought, we competed. Unfortunately, it wasn't our night," Hart said. "But I do not want this to take away from what we've done this year. What an incredible season.

"Nobody, nobody except for these players as well as the other 27 players in our locker room and coaches, nobody believed in us before the season started. And we weren't picked in any preseason polls. Nobody gave us any love or any attention. And I hope we made believers out of a lot of people in the amount of records that we broke this season."

Knox led the nation with 20 assists, while Parker was tied for sixth in goals with 17. The goals and total points (41) for Parker shattered 17-year records for the program.

Alabama led the nation with 76 goals in 27 games, 11 more than the Bruins team it lost to in just three more games. The Crimson Tide ranked No. 1 in the SEC in every offensive category, including points, goals and goals per game.

"Having come from like a different program to be able to walk into a program like this and be a part of helping change that," Crone said, "I'm just honored to have been able to represent this school and everything that it stands for. And I hope that the next group that comes through is able to break our records, because genuinely records are meant to be broken."

Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama soccer set new standard with College Cup semifinal run