By Billy Whyte
Staff Reporter
Following an uncharacteristic performance against Ole Miss, the Alabama women’s soccer team will look to get back on track as they face Vanderbilt this weekend to start off a four game Southeastern Conference road trip.
With only one conference win through four SEC games so far, the Crimson Tide needs to get a couple points this weekend in order to stay on pace in the conference standings. Head coach Todd Bramble said Vanderbilt will be an important test for the Tide to see if the team can rebound from its first disappointing performance.
“That was our first performance that was sort of sub-par, by our standards, on Sunday,” Bramble said. “We had a team on Sunday that we had on the ropes and couldn’t finish off or knock down. So, we need to make sure, psychologically, that we can rebound from that performance and come out strong this weekend. “
The Tide will need to learn from the mistakes made Sunday against Vanderbilt, a team who has only lost one game so far in SEC play and will be hosting their conference home opener.
“It will be important not to let the other team’s crowd become a factor,” sophomore defender Laura Lee Smith said. “We need to take control of the game early, and set the tone, and keep the ball in our half for the majority of the game.”
The 1-0 loss to Ole Miss was the first disappointing performance for the Tide, but the team’s mentality and expectations from the loss show how much it has developed since last year, when it was crushed by Ole Miss 3-0. Sophomore forward Theresa Diederich said she is very happy with the way the team has grown since last year.
“It’s a huge improvement from last year – the best team I think we’ve had in a long time at Alabama,” Diederich said. “Just the seeing the huge improvement from last year is a great feeling. We had a tough game on Sunday, and I think we are ready to get another win.”
This weekend will go a long way in showing how good Alabama can be this season. It will be important for the Tide to find some consistency in its game compared to recent up-and-down performances, but for now, Diederich is happy where the team is and believes the players should be well-prepared moving forward.
“We just need to keep doing what we are doing,” Diederich said. “Even though we haven’t always had the outcome that we wanted, we need to just keep trying to be consistent and playing the possession game, and we will be fine.”
The game will kick off in Nashville at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28.
