Southern Miss
Alabama
Soccer Falls in Road Game to Alabama
9/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Southern Miss women's soccer team lost 1-0 to Alabama on Sunday night in Tuscaloosa on a corner kick goal in the 51st minute. The Golden Eagles are now 2-2-3.
The two teams were scoreless for the first half. Goalkeeper Brittany Taylor made three saves to keep the clean sheet. On the offensive end, Becky McMullan and Ashton Stennis had a shot apiece in the first 45 minutes.
The game's lone goal came in the 51st minute. Alabama's Lacey Clarida jumped up to head in a corner kick cross from Hailey Brohaugh. The goal was a bit of a heartbreaker for the Golden Eagles, who were still riding high from a tremendous penalty kick save from Taylor less than a minute earlier.
The Golden Eagles added four more shots in the second half, including shots on goal from Stephanie Garcia, Bri Schubeck, Breann Hedin and another from Stennis.
Taylor continued her outstanding performance in the net throughout the second half, notching six saves total. The junior now has 221 career saves, just 56 away from the most career saves in Southern Miss history.
In the 84th minute, an altercation between Ashleigh Lewis-Shodeinde and Alabama player Auburn Mercer resulted in both players earning yellow cards. For leaving the Southern Miss sideline to intervene in the dispute, Stephanie Garcia received a red card and will miss the team's next match against ULM.
In the last ten seconds, the Golden Eagles charged up the field for their best opportunity of the game, but were stopped by Alabama goalkeeper Emily Rusk.
The Golden Eagles played without a core playmaker in midfielder Karen Torres, who received a red card in the last game against Mississippi State. Despite that loss, Southern Miss matched the physical play of Alabama and was able to generate opportunities against the strong nonconference opponents.
The Golden Eagles will look to turn things around next week when they take on ULM on Friday. The game will kick off in Monroe at 4:00 p.m. The team returns home to the Southern Miss Soccer Complex on Sunday for a 4:00 p.m. match against South Alabama. These are the last two games before conference play begins.
