The University of Alabama women’s soccer team improved its record to 3-1 on the season following a 2-1 win over the UT Chattanooga on Sunday. However, head coach Todd Bramble was not pleased with his team’s performance over the weekend.

“It’s a win that feels like a loss,” Bramble said. “It was uninspiring. It was disappointing because it’s the first day; this has to show how bad they really want it in the grand scheme of things.

“I think they let themselves down. It’s the first game where we haven’t had the lights on, had a big crowd. So, if they are relying on all that extra big stuff to get them motivated to play, then that’s a pretty immature approach to what we are trying to do this year. It was a day game, the energy from the crowd wasn’t the same, but there’s no excuse. It’s got to be better from us.”

The Crimson Tide started the game firing on all cylinders on the offensive end. Alabama finished the first half with 13 shot attempts to Chattanooga’s two. The Tide kept applying enough pressure and eventually scored the first goal of the day at the 39th minute. Senior midfielder Rosaly Petriello dribbled the ball past a couple defenders with space and scored her second goal of the season on a 25-yard strike to put Alabama up 1-0 nearing halftime.

“It was great scoring,” Petriello said. “But, it felt like it wasn’t the same. We were a little down today; it’s good that we came out with the win. I just wish that we played a little bit stronger.”

The second half was not much better for the Tide as Chattanooga found its equalizer in the 58th minute through a one-touch finish on the far post by Kerbi Towry. Alabama continued to outshoot its opponent in the second half, but the game went to overtime with both squads tied at 1-1.

Seven minutes into overtime, sophomore Ashley Willis was fouled in the penalty box, awarding Alabama a penalty kick and a chance to put the game away. Once again, Petriello stepped up for the Tide and buried the shot, sealing the 2-1 victory.

“She played like a senior; she played like a captain,” Bramble said. “I felt there was a couple times out there where I felt she was a little bit fatigued. During those moments, I’d rather have her out there, with her urgency as a senior, her leadership as a captain.

“We tried to get her to play up a bit higher today. That’s more of her natural position, and she’s more effective.”

Alabama finished the game having outshot Chattanooga 33-9, but while the win is a plus, Bramble did not feel his team played up to their potential on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, this game, the performance was probably a little lack of respect for our opponent,” Bramble said. “And we tried to prepare against that coming into the game. We won’t have that problem with Memphis because they’re ranked in the top 20 in the country and we’re going to play at their place. We’ll have to be as sharp as we can possibly be to have a chance at getting a result in that game.”

Alabama will play Memphis on the road Friday before coming home to face off against Middle Tennessee State at 1 p.m. Sunday.