It may be the toughest soccer matches of the year, and the outcomes won’t be found in any record books.
When the Lady Bulldogs (2-3-1) take the field this weekend in their fourth Orange Beach Classic Tournament for their final match of the spring exhibition season, they’ll be playing with heavy hearts.
This Alabama site is where former MSU goalkeeper Courtney Hubert made her last save in a Bulldog uniform. She ironically was the last player to touch the ball before leaving the field.
Hubert, along with her sister Erin, was tragically killed in a car accident last May upon returning home from her sister’s band practice late that afternoon.
“I think it’s going to be a really hard weekend emotionally to be back where Courtney last played with us,” Karen Sandrik said. “I think it will be good for our team to go through this just like we had to at this time last year.”
“I remember sitting at my house in Florida and not knowing what to think,” Betty Ann Casey said. “I just didn’t believe it at all, and sometimes I still don’t. I just think she went home for the weekend or something.”
Courtney’s memory still holds tall in the minds of the players and coaching staff as she is viewed as an honorary member and the team’s 12th man.
Head coach Neil McGuire said it will be tough for his team to play on that field again without the presence of Courtney.
“It will be emotionally taxing on the players from that standpoint,” McGuire said. “All we can do as coaches is offer our support and let them know that it is okay for them to show their feeling.”
State takes on the Alabama Crimson Tide on the second and final game of the Orange Beach Tournament Saturday at 7 p.m.
“This weekend is important in that it is one more chance for us to implement our new system,” McGuire said. “The players have had a great spring season and have made some significant improvements in their own game, and now this is the last chance before the fall for us to put it all together.”
The tourney also includes rival SEC foes Auburn and Mississippi. Alabama schools will compete against Mississippi schools.
MSU outlasted the 2003 Western Division Champions, the Auburn Tigers, 2-0 in last year’s opening game.