After two devastating losses at home against Mississippi State and Missouri, Alabama soccer is ready to face the University of Florida at home this Friday night. The Crimson Tide believes the similar strategies of both teams will come into play.
Head coach Todd Bramble isn’t holding back his confidence. Though Florida is ranked No. 1 in the SEC East, both Florida and Alabama have nearly identical styles of play. Bramble believes this will make for an even matchup.
“There are a lot of teams in the league that’ll play the ball in their backline to their frontline or try to get it over your backline,” Bramble said. “For us and Florida, we both like to build the ball out the back and play the ball through the midfield on the ground. It’s a lot more of a technical game where there’s every player on the field. Every position on both teams is going to be really good on the ball and really comfortable under pressure with the ball and their feet.”
The losses against Mississippi State and Missouri aren’t stopping the team from being optimistic about this next game. Sophomore midfielder Theresa Diederich is confident, even after a loss against Missouri that came in the last two minutes.
“I think that we’ve had a rough few weekends, but I think we’re ready to come out and win,” Diederich said. “I think that coming off of Missouri will help us.”
This season, Alabama has out-shot its opponents with an average ratio of 3-to-1, while Florida’s ratio is just over 2-to-1. Despite many attempts, coach Bramble said the Tide is having a hard time finding the back of the net.
“For some reason we are finding it really hard to get that second goal or get that third goal or get that goal that’s going to be enough to break the spirit of the other team for us to put the game away,” he said.
Senior defender Ashley Willis is preparing for a tough game against the Gators.
“Florida is just a very, very good team,” Willis said. “We have to give them a lot of credit. They’re very technical and very fast and physical, but they are beatable. It’ll be a good, hard game.”
Being back at home for a consecutive week after four games on the road is helping Alabama focus on the task at hand.
“Going on the road for so long earlier in the season kind of just wears and tears on you, but being back on our field, I feel like we need to protect our field,” Willis said. “There’s going to be more adrenaline, more excitement going in.”
The Tide plans to use skill and strategy to challenge Florida. Bramble said there isn’t a “magical formula” to beating the Gators, but tactics and a fair share of the ball will be key.
“It’s going to be interesting and attractive for the fans to watch because it’s the two teams in the league that play the most similar styles,” Bramble said. “So it’s going to be a real skillful game.”
