For the second straight game, Alabama soccer was unable to find the back of the net, as a gritty Samford team was able to earn itself a 0-0 draw in front of its home crowd.
“I don’t think anyone is happy,” head coach Wes Hart said. “We can do more.”
It was an uncharacteristically sloppy game for the Crimson Tide. Passes sailed out of bounds, crosses were stolen away, and players were slide– tackled regularly. Most notably, Alabama displayed a complete inability to clear the ball.
“Samford’s a tough, gritty, feisty, scrappy team, and they do a good job putting you under pressure. Their forwards were pretty aggressive and pounced on a lot of stuff,” Hart said.
The Crimson Tide was dominated in terms of time of possession down the stretch.
About 30 of the 45 minutes in the second half were spent in the Samford attack zone. The Bulldogs outshot Alabama 14-4 in the final period, and just one of those four Crimson Tide attempts was on target.
“I think it [our success] usually comes down to us working harder than our opponents, and tonight we were not successful at that,” forward Gianna Paul said.
Paul herself had an attempt to completely flip the narrative in the 89th minute after a beautiful cross left her wide open in the box with a clear shot at the goal. But Mary Raymond, athe graduate student midfielder, who also fired off a game-high eight shots for the Bulldogs, came in with the game-saving slide tackle, forcing Alabama into a corner kick that was subsequently stolen away, all but icing the game.
“Credit to Samford,” Hart said. “Their coach [Todd Yelton] did an excellent job. They didn’t back down to us at all.”
On a positive note, the Crimson Tide is still undefeated on the season and will still be comfortably in the top 10 of the national rankings. But for now, the focus must shift toward Southern Mississippi.
Alabama takes on the Golden Eagles on Thursday in Hattiesburg. The game will kick off at 4 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
