Alabama defeated Texas A&M at home Sunday, with forward Gianna Paul and other key players contributing impressive performances.
The Crimson Tide scored in the 21st minute with an over-the-top pass from midfielder Nadia Ramadan that set Paul up one-on-one against Texas A&M goalie Sydney Fuller.
This was Paul’s 10th goal of the year, which put her in the top 10 in program history for goals in a season. It was also her 26th in her three years at Alabama, moving her to third place in school history for career goals. Furthermore, it was her fourth game-winning goal this season, and she is now fourth all-time in program history in game-winning goals.
Alabama goalkeeper Ellie Lanyi tallied five saves this match, a new season high. It was also her third shutout of the year.
After five out of six games ended in ties, Alabama head coach Wes Hart said it was a tough start to the SEC season but that he is proud of the team for its fight, grit and persistence.
“It would be easy to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves, but I thought the girls put that behind us and focused on today’s game,” Hart said. “It looked like a team that was hungry for 3 points.”
At halftime, Hart talked about not bleeding out the clock but fighting for another goal.
“45 minutes against a quality opponent like that is too much time,” Hart said. “So our message to the group was go out and keep pressing for that next goal.”
In the end, Alabama notched 17 shots in the second half, bringing the total to 21 shots in the game. This was a season-high for any team against Texas A&M, which had kept its opponents to under 16 shots coming into the game.
“Even though we didn’t get [another] goal, we created some of our best chances and played some of our best soccer of the season,” Hart said. “I’m really, really proud of how they executed the game plan.”
The Crimson Tide will travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks on Friday at 6 p.m. CT. Fans can tune in on SEC Network+.
