“That would be my only complaint that I could file against us tonight is we should’ve scored more goals, but we did everything else really well,” said Crimson Tide coach Todd Bramble.
Balls went wide and high. If the shots were on target, they went right to Caroline Robinson, Jacksonville State’s goalie.
The Crimson Tide’s first point came in the 38th minute. Freshman forward Lacey Clarida headed it in, her second goal of the season. Sophomore defender Jordan Meier earned the assist.
Clarida almost added another before the half ended, but the shot went over the bar.
“It was very exciting,” she said. “I think we played well as a team today, and I feel like we could’ve put a few more goals in, but altogether, I think we put the game away and got the W.”
Senior midfielder Theresa Diederich added to Alabama’s lead in the 68th minute. It was her third goal of the season. The assist came from senior defender Maruschka Waldus.
Diederich had eight shots and three on goal.
“[The goal was] just picking up scraps,” she said. “We were all fighting in the 18-yard box. Maruschka did a really good job of keeping it in bounds and just battling, and it kind of squirted out and I finished it.”
The UA offense dominated the first half with 13 shots and six on goal to Jacksonville State’s two shots and one on goal.
“At halftime, we talked about becoming more offensive-minded, and then we just put in the effort and started producing more and getting more shots,” Clarida said.
All in all, Alabama had 30 shots to Jacksonville State’s three. The Crimson Tide had 11 corners to the Gamecocks’ one, which came early in the game.
“[The defense] definitely became involved in the offense a lot more and really did well,” Clarida said.
The defense held for Alabama in its third shutout win of the season.
“That was important for us to minimize their chances because we really wanted to get a shutout out of this game, and I thought our back line and [redshirt freshman keeper] Kat [Stratton] in goal did a great job tonight,” Bramble said.
Alabama was shut out on Friday to No. 3 Virginia 3-0. With Sunday’s win, the Crimson Tide improved to 3-2-1 on the season and will play again Friday night when it hosts UAB (2-3-0).
