In its first match against a nationally-ranked opponent this season, the Alabama Crimson Tide soccer team defeated the No. 18 Clemson Tigers 3-0 in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama controlled the game in almost every aspect, including getting twice as many shots on goal (20-10) and shots on goal (7-3).
Alabama also played a cleaner game on defense, only committing eight fouls to Clemson’s 12, and completing the game without earning a yellow card while the Tigers earned three yellow cards.
The scoring lid came off during the 33rd minute when Felicia Knox delivered a free kick into the box, and Riley Mattingly Parker headed the ball into the corner of the net to give Alabama a 1-0 lead.
The Tide didn’t score again until the end of the second half, when two goals were netted in about a seven-minute span.
Gianna Paul scored her first career goal after coming off the bench and receiving an assist from Kat Rogers in the 72nd minute. Then Parker scored her second goal of the game after a pair of passes from Paul and Gessica Skorka.
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Alabama has not given up a goal in their first two home games of the season, and the defense had only given up one goal in four games. Unfortunately, that one goal came in a 1-0 loss against Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
“I don’t even have the words to describe how grateful I am for our crowd tonight,” Crimson Tide coach Wes Hart said in a release. “They showed up and put out. There’s no doubt they helped us win the game. Hopefully we gave them a reason to come back again.
“I thought our team played well tonight. Once again, we had a great start to the game. We rewarded ourselves with an early goal. I thought the momentum kind of changed in Clemson’s favor after the goal, but we were able to regain it before halftime. The second half went exactly the way we wanted it to. We wanted to keep attacking and not bunker in and try to hang on to the lead. Forty-five minutes is too long to hang on against an opponent like Clemson. It was important to us to keep playing for the next goal. Could not be happier with how we closed this game out. Huge performances by so many different players. Great win. We will enjoy it tonight and then our focus shifts to BYU tomorrow.”
The game was a rematch of last year’s first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament, won at Clemson. Net up is the opponent that ended Alabama’s 2021 season.
The Crimson Tide will head west for a three-game road trip, all in Utah, beginning with No. 9 BYU on Thursday at 8 p.m. CT.
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