By Zach Fidel
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
After giving up an early goal, the Alabama’s soccer team fought back to force a 1-1 draw with LSU on Thursday night.
Alabama came into the game sitting in 8th place in the SEC needing a win to prevent falling to 0-2 in conference play.
Senior midfielder Maddy Anzelc, who scored her first goal on Sunday, was in the staring 11 once again for coach Wes Hart, who said he loved how Anzelc remained ready for game action despite seeing minimal minutes early in the season.
The Crimson Tide found itself in unfamiliar territory as LSU scored five minutes into the game off a header from striker Nicole Howard. The Crimson Tide is not used to being down early, as Alabama’s defense has forced four shutouts this season. LSU’s strikers were keeping the Crimson Tide’s defense on their toes with precise passing.
Despite falling behind, Alabama did not stray away from its aggressive shooting mentality. In the first half the Crimson Tide had plenty of opportunities to tie the game. Junior Abbie Boswell sprinted through the defense leaving her all alone with the goalkeeper, but her shot went straight at the goalkeeper, who made the easy save. Senior Celia Jimenez Delgado also missed a point-blank shot inside of the box.
Alabama had a total of 10 shots in the first half to LSU’s 4. The difference was LSU capitalized on its opportunities.
Ten minutes into the second half, the Crimson Tide finally found the back of the net. Junior Christina Maartensson, who received the ball from teammate Emma Welch, powered a header past the goalkeeper for her first goal of the season.
Even though Alabama outshot LSU 33-8 the game remained tied at the end the second half. The teams headed to a sudden death overtime, but after both overtime periods there was no winner.
Next up for the Crimson Tide is sixth-ranked Florida on Sunday night.
