The 12-seed Alabama soccer team knocked the 5-seed Vanderbilt Commodores out of the SEC tournament Sunday with two first half goals from midfielders Nadia Ramadan and Zivana Labovic.
Alabama recently ended its regular season with a 3-1 loss to Vanderbilt.
First team All-SEC Alabama forward Gianna Paul started the night off with a shot on goal within the first minute. Paul made another attempt on the goal in the fifth minute, but Vanderbilt goalie Sara Wojdelko blocked the shot.
Alabama got on the board first when Ramadan got a shot past Wojdelko in the eighth minute, after a scuffle inside the box with a Commodore defender.
The Crimson Tide added to its lead nine minutes later. Defender Gessica Skorka’s pass over the Vanderbilt goalie allowed a header from Labovic unimpeded into the net. Skorka tallied her 19th assist with the Crimson Tide; she is now third in all-time assists at Alabama.
“Getting the goal was the best feeling ever,” Labovic said, adding that she had spoken recently with head coach Wes Hart about her desire to score a header goal.
Skorka was also named to the first team All-SEC with Paul and has now earned the honor two years in a row. She has played in all but one game this season, which she missed due to an injury.
“We have all the potential in the world,” Labovic said. “We had to get into that mentality that we needed to fight to win and take it to the next level.”
Alabama played aggressively on offense, keeping the ball on Vanderbilt’s side of the field, and the defense held the Commodores to only five shots in the first half. However, in recent games, the Crimson Tide has not been able to finish strong, showing up aggressively in the first half but falling off in the second.
“We’ve shown all year that we can compete with the best teams in the league, just hadn’t closed games out. Tonight we did,” Hart said.
Ramadan and Skorka both began the second half with shots, Skorka’s being on goal but saved by Wojdelko.
For 76 minutes, the Crimson Tide remained alone on the scoreboard. A corner kick set up forward Ella Eggleston to finally put Vanderbilt on the board. With Eggleston’s goal, the Commodores still trailed the Crimson Tide 2-1 late in the game.
Alabama finished with stout defense, remaining on top 2-1.
“Really proud of our team tonight. We knew it was going to be a very difficult game, but I thought our girls came out and established ourselves as the aggressors from the opening whistle,” Hart said.
Alabama moves forward in the SEC tournament, facing the No. 4 seed South Carolina Gamecocks on Tuesday. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network.
