Alabama soccer’s team motto this year is Find a Way, and just two games into the season, the motto has been put the test.
Alabama lost its first game to TCU 1-0. Keeper Alex Plavin picked up a red card in the 54th minute in the loss, forcing Alabama to play a man down for the remaining 30 minutes.
“It was a good learning experience for us,” defender Nealy Martin said. “It was just something that we can take away playing a man down. If that ever comes up in SEC play, it’ll be good to have that under our belts, because not many teams experience that this early in the year.”
The Crimson Tide finished its Texas road trip with a 1-1 draw against North Texas. Senior forward Abbie Boswell found that back of the net with less than 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
Even though the game finished in a draw, Alabama outshot the Mean Green 29-14, including 6-0 in overtime.
“We kept trying and trying, and it just wasn’t going in,” Boswell said. “I took a hopeful shot outside the box and it just happened to go in. We had so many opportunities we should have finished, so hopefully we’ll start finishing more.”
The Crimson Tide begins its six-game homestand against Florida Gulf Coast on Friday. The matchup is just the second time these two teams have met, with the first game coming in 2016 where Alabama won 1-0.
The Eagles are 1-0 on the season after defeating Georgia Southern 3-0. Georgia Southern only got off one shot in that game.
“We try not to change a whole heck of a lot from game to game,” coach Wes Hart said. “We’re going to be who we are. We want to be good at what we do.”
The Eagles finished 14-4-1 in 2017 and made it to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years.
Alabama then faces Kennesaw State on Sunday. The Owls are 2-0 after shutting out Western Carolina and Georgia State. Alabama won the meeting in Kennesaw, Georgia last year 3-1.
