Alabama and Arkansas are very familiar with each other, and the Frozen Tide lost to the Razorbacks, 2-1, in the Southeastern Conference finals Sunday.

The two teams have a championship history, with the past four SEC winners being Alabama or Arkansas. It was easy to see from the start that these teams did not like each other.

“Every time we play Arkansas, we know it’s going to be a battle,” sophomore Zach Appleby said.

The Frozen Tide came out strong, allowing no goals in the first two periods.

After a long stalemate, Alabama got on the scoreboard. Appleby broke free and scored with 8:13 left in the second period. With that goal, Appleby had scored in all three games of the tournament.

“He stepped up huge for us,” junior Kenny Janssen said. “He works harder than about anyone else on the team.”

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Frozen Tide coach Mike Quenneville also had some compliments for Appleby.

“He’s probably been our most improved player,” Quenneville said. “We are glad for him.”

But Alabama allowed the Razorbacks to come back and score two goals in the final period. Arkansas scored the go-ahead goal with only 6:45 left in the game and never relinquished the lead after that.

“They gave 110 percent,” Quenneville said. “We had no energy at the end, and that’s what we asked of them.”

Before the finals versus Arkansas, Alabama was skating in top form.

The Frozen Tide defeated Vanderbilt in the first round, 7-2, and beat Florida, the No. 1 seed in the East, 6-1.

Alabama had a great tournament and hopes to be ranked high enough to receive a bye from regionals.

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“We played well,” Janssen said. “I’m very proud of everybody.”

The rankings will be announced next Friday, and if Alabama is ranked in the top two in the South, it will go straight to nationals. If it is ranked between numbers three and 10, it will play in the South regionals two weeks from now. Winners of regionals move on to nationals.

With the time off, Alabama will have plenty of time to get ready for the next match.

“We are really banged up, and we need to get healed up,” Quenneville said. “Then we need to get back in shape for the next match.”

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