In its SEC opener on Thursday, the Crimson Tide grinded out a 2-2 draw on the road against No. 11 Texas.
Texas’ Amalia Villarreal and Jilly Shimkin both scored within the first 13 minutes of the game, bringing the score to 0-2.
After being down early in the match, midfielder Nadia Ramadan scored in the 37th minute on a free kick into the right corner of the net, bringing the score to 2-1 at half.
With just over seven minutes left in the game, Alabama midfielder Leah Kunde rebounded a failed shot attempt by midfielder Isabel Smith and dribbled the ball down the endline. She crossed it high back to Smith, who headed the ball into the back of the net.
“[I’m] so proud of the resiliency in our team,” Alabama head coach Wes Hart said. “We showed a lot of maturity and composure after going down 0-2 early.”
Although the Longhorns led in shots on goal 11-7 in the second half, Ramadan helped pace her team by putting three shots on goal. Forward Gianna Paul and four other Alabama players combined to create three shots each after her.
“[We] came back and scored a couple really nice goals and created several other very good chances,” Hart said.
On the defensive side, goalkeeper Coralie Lallier tied her career high with eight saves, preventing Texas from scoring after the 12th minute.
Hart was pleased with his players but added that both sides could say they deserved to win.
“I think both teams could make arguments that they deserved a bit more. At the end, a tie was probably fair,” Hart said. “Now we shift our focus to a very good Tennessee team.”
Alabama will host the Lady Volunteers, who will be playing their SEC opener, at the Alabama Soccer Stadium Sept 22 at 6 p.m. CT. Fans can stream the matchup on ESPNU.
