College Soccer: No. 1 Alabama adds more feats with SEC Tournament quarterfinal win
In a first-time performance in Pensacola, the Alabama women’s soccer team further exemplified Tuesday night its nationally acclaimed season.
The Crimson Tide, ranked No. 1 in one poll, No. 3 in the NCAA Division I coaches poll, got a pair of first-half goals and controlled possession most of the minutes to defeat Mississippi State 2-0 in their Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinal at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex.
An overflow crowd at the Escambia County Stadium, believed to be the biggest for a quarterfinal round game in SEC Tournament history, watched and realized why Alabama (18-1-1) has stirred such a buzz among the collegiate soccer world.
Ashlynn Serepca scored in the 13th minute – her seventh goal his season -- and Macy Clem followed in the 32nd minute for Alabama goals.
“I thought the team came out on the front foot and I thought we kinda dictated the tempo and the pace of the game and we got after them,” said Alabama coach Wes Hart, whose team won its 14th consecutive game. “I thought overall it was a dominate performance.”
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Hart’s assessment followed a game where Alabama had a 13-3 difference in shots on goal, 23-11 in total shots and 9-2 in corner kicks. It was also a school record for most shutout wins (11) in a season.
“I think the defense as a whole, we were quite good,” said Hart, now in his eighth season, who has led Alabama on a rise to elite. “We limited them to very few chances and when they did get chances, Mac (goalkeeper McKinley Crane) was there to make a save.”
After Mississippi State had a scoring chance in the 37th minute, Alabama produced the first goal six minutes later with Serepca’s goal.
“They came out and sat down a little bit more (on defense), which made it hard for us to break them down,” said Hart, named the SEC coach of the year earlier this week. “It look like we had some good ball movement. We had some composure in the box to find Ashlynn and she had the presence of mind to pick up a corner and slid it there.”
Later in the first half, Reyna Reves took a corner kick and Clem battled in the goal box area and slid to get enough on the ball for it to cross the goal line.
“We have been very good all along on set pieces (like corner kicks),” Hart said. “This one, Macy somehow got her foot on it, or her head on it, and her ability to scrap and fight complete in the box to complete the box.”
Mississippi State goalkeeper Mac Titus was sensational in preventing more goals. She dove just above the ground to stop a penalty kick by Reyes in the 24th minute. She had several other big saves from point blank range.
“She is a great goalkeeper,” Hart said. “Credit them to their whole team in general. They fought and battled.”
With 7:28 left, Alabama goalkeeper McKinley Crone made a big save off a corner kick and header.
“She’s been like that all year long,” Hart said. “When we needed her to make saves, she did. As you can imagine, a goal by them late in the game and who knows what happens.”
Other games
No. 2 South Carolina 3, No. 10 Ole Miss 0
The No. 2 seed Gamecocks got a first half goal from Cat Berry and second-half goals from Megan Spiehs and Payton Patrick to advance into the semifinals.
South Carolina has now scored 11 goals in its last three games.
No. 6 Georgia 2, No. 3 Tennessee 0
After the Vols opened the game by creating chances and controlling the possession, Georgia struck with a goal by graduate forward Dani Murguia and later in the first half by Tori Penn en route to an upset win over the Vols.
The second half, the sixth-seeded Bulldogs defense took over and advanced to the SEC Tournament finals for the first time since 2014 and first tournament win since 2010.
No. 5 Vanderbilt 1 (5), No. 4 Arkansas 1 (4)
After tying the game in the 69th minute, the Commodores survived a pair of scoreless overtime periods to win on penalty kicks. Five of the Vandy players scored on the penalty kicks to seal it.
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com.
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament Semifinals
WHERE: Escambia County Stadium at Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex.
WHO/WHEN: Thursday: Alabama vs. Vanderbilt at 5 p.m.; South Carolina vs. Georgia at 7:30 p.m.
TICKETS: Full Tournament Pass (all 3 remaining games) $25, single-game tickets for each semifinal game are $7 with Sunday’s game at $10.
PARKING: Free at complex.
TELEVISION: All games live on SEC Network
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: SEC Tournament: Top-seeded Alabama cruises past Mississippi State
