No. 25 Alabama Soccer Storms Back at Missouri; SEC Tournament Bracket Set

The Alabama soccer team closed out its regular season with a comeback road victory to secure the No. 5 seeding at next week's championships.

The Alabama soccer team, in its attempt at a second conference road victory, faced no easy task against Missouri. One match after losing its home unbeaten streak which stretched back to 2021, the No. 25 Crimson Tide (11-4-4) turned on the jets in the second half and rallied from a 1-0 deficit. For the 5-9-3 Tigers, already out of SEC tournament contention before Thursday's match kicked off, the 2-1 result was the eighth loss by a single goal this season. Missouri almost took Alabama completely out of the running for a bye in the tournament.

In the waning moments of the match, even after surrendering the goal that leveled things at one apiece, the Tigers could've still forced a draw and a sharing of the points in Columbia, Mo. Owing largely to Crimson Tide defender Marianna Annest's fourth goal of the campaign, that didn't happen. Midfielder Felicia Knox's performance was instrumental, assisting on each Alabama goal.

"I knew they would not make it easy on us," Crimson Tide head coach Wes Hart said. "They get a lot of numbers behind the ball. We did not help ourselves by giving up the early goal."

That early goal came off the boot of Jenna Bartels in the 11th minute. She snuck one into the back left corner of the net and energized her team. More than just pride was at stake, but Missouri was not playing for its own postseason fortunes. The bid by the Tigers to sully Alabama's lasted well into the second half. The Crimson Tide went into the break down one. 

It was a set piece that changed everything. Alabama's success last season with corner kicks was a major aspect of the team's conquest of the program record books. That same success has not carried over into 2023 at the same rate. In the 67th minute, Knox took a corner, and it was headed in by defender Brooke Steere. That goal was her second of the season. 

The Annest-Steere scoring tandem has shown up in the same contest before. The pair contributed one score apiece in a 4-1 win over LSU on Oct. 13. This Crimson Tide back line has had a knack for showing up in the scoring column in key matches. Annest added her score, assisted by Knox, in the 86th minute. 

"I was really pleased with our second half," Hart said. "We played with a lot of urgency and purpose. We did a great job of getting to the endline and creating chances." Alabama had 11 shots in the game, five on goal, and had opportunities to add more. The team defenses in the contest were strong. Neither keeper's save number is reflective of their respective contributions to that effort. The last lines of defense largely held. Alabama's Coralie Lallier has struggled in the road matches that the Crimson Tide lost, but she was ironclad on Thursday apart from the early Missouri score.

Alabama did well in its last match prior to Thursday at controlling possession, an area in which the team has excelled over the past two seasons. The Tigers made that more difficult. If the Crimson Tide had expected Missouri to come out flat, those expectations were rendered categorically wrong early. The spirit shown by the home team didn't change the constant theme of conference play for the Tigers. All eight of Missouri's one-goal defeats came against SEC opponents. Alabama's win on the road was its second in five tries against conference opposition.

The regular season is now in the rear-view mirror. 19 matches are in the books. The SEC tournament in Pensacola, Fla., is next on the schedule, and it begins on Sunday. The Crimson Tide earned a first-round bye, which will be followed by a rematch against Mississippi State on Oct. 31.

"I think we're playing our best soccer at the right time," he said.

2023 SEC Soccer Tournament bracket / Southeastern Conference

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Alabama Soccer Shakes Off Road Troubles in Ole Miss Win