Despite Own Goal, Alabama Soccer Remains Undefeated in Conference Play

An own goal in the second half put the game in jeopardy, but the Crimson Tide held on to continue its winning streak.

The Alabama soccer team was the only one to score in a match against SEC rival Georgia, but it was far from a comfortable game down the stretch.

The Crimson Tide was up 2-0 in the second half over the Bulldogs, but when Jada Gibson kicked the ball into the box, miscommunication between McKinley Crone and the defense allowed the ball into the net during the 73rd minute. 

With the score 2-1 and less than 20 minutes to go, the Alabama defense stepped up, while the offense continued to apply pressure on the Georgia defense. In the end, the Tide won 2-1 on the road.

It was a physical game between the SEC opponents, who combined for 25 fouls and three yellow cards (Georgia had two to Alabama's one), and both offenses were aggressive the entire 90 minutes. 

The Tide, however, outpaced the Bulldogs on offense as Alabama nearly doubled its own number of shots from the first half (seven) to the second half (12). The 12 second-half shots alone was more than Georgia had the entire game (seven).

“Our press and hunt continues to cause our opponents all sorts of problems and provides us with a ton of energy,” coach Wes Hart said in a press release. “It’s really fun to watch.”

One of those shots came from Riley Tanner, who knocked the ball into the upper corner from outside the box in the 20th minute for the first goal of the game.

The second goal came in the second half as Felicia Knox earned her NCAA - leading 12th assists off a corner kick and Ashlynn Serepca heading in her fourth goal of the year.

The Crimson Tide is 11-1-1 on the season and 4-0-0 in SEC play, including winning its last seven consecutive games. 

The next game will be a home match against Ole Miss on Thursday, October 6th at 7 p.m. CT