University of Georgia Athletics
After Historic '23, Wondering Has Become Believing
August 03, 2024 | Soccer, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
It will take a lot for Georgia's soccer team to top what it did in 2023. Coach Keidane McAlpine and the players are planning on doing just that.
"Before, we were wondering if we were that team," McAlpine said of the change in mindset before and after the breakthrough 2023 season. "And now, it's more, we are that team and we can be that team."
In his first season at Georgia, in 2022, the Bulldogs went 13-6-3, hosted an NCAA first-round game for the first time since 2007, and reached the second round of the NCAAs. It was a great start to a new era of Bulldog soccer, but McAlpine didn't leave USC, where he won a national title in 2016, for Georgia to just get to the NCAAs.
In 2023, the greatest season in program history, the Bulldogs went 13-4-6, won the East division for the first time, and followed that with the program's first SEC tournament championship. Georgia then hosted an NCAA first-round game again and reached the round of 16, falling at Clemson on penalty kicks. Clemson went on to reach the College Cup, losing to eventual champion Florida State in the semis. The Bulldogs and Tigers will play an exhibition at Clemson on Sunday.
In the final United Soccer Coaches poll, Georgia, which began the season receiving just two votes, finished 13th, its highest-ever ranking. The Bulldogs were the last SEC team left in the NCAA tournament and finished as the highest-ranked team in the conference.
"We have a standard now that we need to uphold, and we know what we're capable of," said senior midfielder Ellie Gilbert. "I think that everyone here is playing like SEC tournament champions, and they know that that's what we can do again, and do better.
"We know also the dedication and the work that needs to go into winning a championship, so we have to carry that out every day in practice. I think that's been a definitely attitude change since we've gotten back here this year."
Croix Bethune, who followed McAlpine over from USC last season, missed the first part of the season while recovering from an injury, and then she produced four goals and five assists in 15 games. She was named a second-team All-American, was drafted third overall by the Washington Spirit of the NWSL, and on July 31, she made her Olympic debut with the U.S. squad in Paris.
While Bethune will be missed, Georgia does return its top three goal scorers from last season in graduates Nicole Vernis (six goals, seven assists) and Hannah White (six goals, two assists) and redshirt sophomore Summer Denigan (six goals).
From a recruiting standpoint, McAlpine said, "the fruit" of all of the positives from last season will really begin to show up in the next signing class. However, "what it did internally, I think there's a belief, there's an understanding of what it takes."
During a 40-minute intra-squad scrimmage on Tuesday afternoon, with the veterans on the team going against the newer players (freshmen and transfers, plus some returning players because there are only eight newcomers), it was the recent arrivals that prevailed 2-0. In fact, it was the youngest player on the team, Sophia Brelage, who scored both goals (against a mix of starters and backups).
"It's good for those young players to get their feet on the ground and actually feel good together," McAlpine said after the scrimmage.
Brelage, who graduated from high school in Pembroke Pines, Fla., early to reclassify to the 2024 class, scored both of her goals on second-half breakaways.
"Not a surprise at all," McAlpine said of her performance. "She's got that quality, she's very comfortable on the ball, and to be fair, her overall demeanor is really calm. Even in these moments, I don't see her getting too excited."
Asked if the two-goal performance was a surprise to her, Brelage said: "Yes, it was." She then said the work the team has put in together in the preseason has helped her settle in very well.
"I wasn't the only one that made the runs, it was people helping me that played the through balls to me," she said. "I was super comfortable out there because this group of girls, especially being so young and the youngest one on the team, I feel like they've welcomed me so nicely."
Gilbert, who started the first 14 games before missing the rest of the 2023 season with a knee injury, said she felt good running and scrimmaging with her teammates.
"It's been nine months, I think, and it was great — it was definitely short and sweet, but I enjoyed being back out there," Gilbert said. "I've been anticipating it for a long time, and it's a little bit different from a regular game, but just being out on the field again is so nice.
"I feel really lucky to not be feeling super worried about my knee and the injury. I can just be out there and just play."
The Bulldogs played a very difficult schedule in 2023, one of the toughest in the country, and they will do so again this season. Eleven days after Sunday's scrimmage, Georgia will open its season at home on Aug. 15, against Pittsburgh, an NCAA quarterfinalist last season. Georgia plays at perennial power North Carolina on Aug. 22, and visits defending national champion Florida State on Aug. 29.
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Staff Writer
It will take a lot for Georgia's soccer team to top what it did in 2023. Coach Keidane McAlpine and the players are planning on doing just that.
"Before, we were wondering if we were that team," McAlpine said of the change in mindset before and after the breakthrough 2023 season. "And now, it's more, we are that team and we can be that team."
In his first season at Georgia, in 2022, the Bulldogs went 13-6-3, hosted an NCAA first-round game for the first time since 2007, and reached the second round of the NCAAs. It was a great start to a new era of Bulldog soccer, but McAlpine didn't leave USC, where he won a national title in 2016, for Georgia to just get to the NCAAs.
In 2023, the greatest season in program history, the Bulldogs went 13-4-6, won the East division for the first time, and followed that with the program's first SEC tournament championship. Georgia then hosted an NCAA first-round game again and reached the round of 16, falling at Clemson on penalty kicks. Clemson went on to reach the College Cup, losing to eventual champion Florida State in the semis. The Bulldogs and Tigers will play an exhibition at Clemson on Sunday.
In the final United Soccer Coaches poll, Georgia, which began the season receiving just two votes, finished 13th, its highest-ever ranking. The Bulldogs were the last SEC team left in the NCAA tournament and finished as the highest-ranked team in the conference.
"We have a standard now that we need to uphold, and we know what we're capable of," said senior midfielder Ellie Gilbert. "I think that everyone here is playing like SEC tournament champions, and they know that that's what we can do again, and do better.
"We know also the dedication and the work that needs to go into winning a championship, so we have to carry that out every day in practice. I think that's been a definitely attitude change since we've gotten back here this year."
Croix Bethune, who followed McAlpine over from USC last season, missed the first part of the season while recovering from an injury, and then she produced four goals and five assists in 15 games. She was named a second-team All-American, was drafted third overall by the Washington Spirit of the NWSL, and on July 31, she made her Olympic debut with the U.S. squad in Paris.
While Bethune will be missed, Georgia does return its top three goal scorers from last season in graduates Nicole Vernis (six goals, seven assists) and Hannah White (six goals, two assists) and redshirt sophomore Summer Denigan (six goals).
From a recruiting standpoint, McAlpine said, "the fruit" of all of the positives from last season will really begin to show up in the next signing class. However, "what it did internally, I think there's a belief, there's an understanding of what it takes."
During a 40-minute intra-squad scrimmage on Tuesday afternoon, with the veterans on the team going against the newer players (freshmen and transfers, plus some returning players because there are only eight newcomers), it was the recent arrivals that prevailed 2-0. In fact, it was the youngest player on the team, Sophia Brelage, who scored both goals (against a mix of starters and backups).
"It's good for those young players to get their feet on the ground and actually feel good together," McAlpine said after the scrimmage.
Brelage, who graduated from high school in Pembroke Pines, Fla., early to reclassify to the 2024 class, scored both of her goals on second-half breakaways.
"Not a surprise at all," McAlpine said of her performance. "She's got that quality, she's very comfortable on the ball, and to be fair, her overall demeanor is really calm. Even in these moments, I don't see her getting too excited."
Asked if the two-goal performance was a surprise to her, Brelage said: "Yes, it was." She then said the work the team has put in together in the preseason has helped her settle in very well.
"I wasn't the only one that made the runs, it was people helping me that played the through balls to me," she said. "I was super comfortable out there because this group of girls, especially being so young and the youngest one on the team, I feel like they've welcomed me so nicely."
Gilbert, who started the first 14 games before missing the rest of the 2023 season with a knee injury, said she felt good running and scrimmaging with her teammates.
"It's been nine months, I think, and it was great — it was definitely short and sweet, but I enjoyed being back out there," Gilbert said. "I've been anticipating it for a long time, and it's a little bit different from a regular game, but just being out on the field again is so nice.
"I feel really lucky to not be feeling super worried about my knee and the injury. I can just be out there and just play."
The Bulldogs played a very difficult schedule in 2023, one of the toughest in the country, and they will do so again this season. Eleven days after Sunday's scrimmage, Georgia will open its season at home on Aug. 15, against Pittsburgh, an NCAA quarterfinalist last season. Georgia plays at perennial power North Carolina on Aug. 22, and visits defending national champion Florida State on Aug. 29.
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Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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