Recap | Alabama soccer has one last chance to finish strong

Friday’s loss to Texas A&M was a crushing defeat in disappointing fashion.

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The game was decided in 50 seconds. After Texas A&M’s first goal came off the foot of Taylor Pounds, a player who hadn’t scored all season, Alabama women’s soccer simply couldn’t catch up. The team was unable to send its departing players off with a win on senior night, falling to No. 8 Texas A&M (5-1), 2-0. 

Friday night was the first time the Crimson Tide has been shut out this season, but it was the third shutout delivered by the Aggies. In sharp contrast, the last time Alabama shut out an opponent was more than a year ago, Oct. 13, 2019, against the LSU Tigers in a 3-0 win. The loss marks the sixth straight for the Crimson Tide, making it the first six-game losing streak for the program since the 2010 season. 

Alabama is now in second to last place in the west division, ahead of the LSU Tigers squad that Alabama drew a tie against last weekend, and is tied for No. 12 in the conference along with the Kentucky Wildcats. The Crimson Tide is one of four teams in the conference that hasn’t won a game in its division. 

After tonight’s match, Alabama does not have a player on the top-10 list for shots, shots per game, points or points per game. The Oklahoma transfer and junior goalkeeper McKinley Crone ranks second in the conference for saves with 36 and average saves per game. Despite the high number of saves from Crone, opposing offenses are getting enough shots during a game to send at least one to the back of the net. 

Two players who made the SEC preseason watch list, sophomore Reyna Reyes and senior Casey Wertz, have yet to score a goal this season. Junior Riley Mattingly has now been scoreless in the Crimson Tide’s past six matches. Reyes had one of Alabama’s two shots on goal; the other was by sophomore Macy Clem. 

Texas A&M added an insurance goal by Laney Carroll in the 67th minute of the game, leaving Alabama with little hope to come back. The Aggies backfield dominated the Alabama offense not allowing a single shot on goal through the first half. 

Alabama collected more corner kicks than Texas A&M, 3-2, but the Aggies made the most of its opportunities, converting a corner kick into the first goal of the game. Texas A&M came out even stronger in the second half, tallying eight corner kicks compared to Alabama’s one. 

Alabama will look to cap off its regular season the way it started it, with a win, against its first west division opponent of the year: the Auburn Tigers. Auburn is one spot ahead of Alabama in the western division. 

Alabama and rival Auburn are set to kick off on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 5 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network.