Soccer Aims for First SEC Tournament Berth Since 2004
10/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 29, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - If the Alabama soccer team's season were to end today, the Crimson Tide would be destined for Orange Beach - site of the 2008 SEC Tournament. The season, however, does not end today, and Alabama is still hanging on to hopes of reaching postseason play for the first time since 2004. Prior to that appearance, the last time Alabama played in the SEC Tournament was 1998. With tournament play in their sights, the Crimson Tide looks to end the postseason drought.
Having accumulated 13 points so far in conference play, Alabama currently sits in eighth place in the SEC, only one point ahead of western division foe Arkansas. The top eight teams, according to SEC point totals, will advance to Orange Beach and contend for the conference crown.
With a win already over Arkansas, the Crimson Tide controls its own destiny for reaching the tournament. But with one regular season game left to play, a few different scenarios could unfold and either make or break Alabama's season.
As long as Alabama wins on Friday, its spot in the SEC Tournament is sealed. If Alabama loses, the only way it can make it into the postseason is if Arkansas ties or loses their game at LSU. Although they would have an equal number of points with a Razorback tie, Alabama won the regular season match up, thus holding the tie-breaker.
There are two ways Alabama could be eliminated from postseason play. If Alabama ties its game and Arkansas wins, the Tide's season will come to an end, giving Arkansas a one point advantage over Alabama. Also, if the Razorbacks win and Alabama loses, there will be no postseason for the Tide.
With a victory being the guaranteed way into the SEC Tournament for Alabama, the showdown on Friday night versus archrival Auburn bears much more significance than the normal in-state battle.
"As strange as this may sound, I actually told the team that I'm glad we haven't qualified mathematically for the tournament yet," head coach Todd Bramble said. "It means that we have to keep pushing and keep working hard, which is what I want this program doing at this time of the year--trying to peak at the right time. I would rather us be working as hard as we can every minute of every day, every training session and going into that last game against Auburn feeling like we need to get a result and have a great performance in order to get a result."
Because Alabama has performed well in some previous Friday night road tests, Bramble hopes the Tide will be able to draw from those positive experiences and end the regular season on a high note.
"There is no doubt that this team has played well on the road at times, we have some big Friday night games in conference that we'll be able to draw experiences from," Bramble said. "Vanderbilt, Arkansans, and most recently, coming down to the very end of the game against Tennessee and needing to score a goal to get a point out of that game, we were able to do that, so those things are all fresh in our memory."
Alabama will face rival Auburn in the plains on Friday, Oct. 31. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Auburn University Soccer Complex.
