Alabama Falls to No. 7 Florida, 2-1

Friday, September 19

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7:00 p.m

Alabama

4-3-1

Florida

6-2-0

Florida

Alabama

Alabama Falls to No. 7 Florida, 2-1

9/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Soccer

Box Score

Sept. 19, 2014

Box Score | Photo Gallery

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama soccer team fell to No. 7 Florida, 2-1, in a Friday night match at the Alabama Soccer Complex.

"It's a tough loss," said Coach Todd Bramble. "We don't subscribe to the idea of moral victories."

The Tide was outshot 20-7, but stalled the Gators from producing many breakaway chances. Alabama was outshot 9-1 in the first half, but narrowed the gap in the second half as Florida produced 11 shots to Alabama's six.

"I felt like we created more quality scoring chances," Bramble said. "The shots make it look like they dominated the game, but we created better scoring chances than they did. I thought the players did an outstanding job of executing the game plan."

It took over 70 minutes to produce the game's first goal, with all three tallies coming in a four-minute span.

The onslaught began in the 74^th minute, when UF sophomore midfielder Liz Slattery took a cross and tapped a short shot in the midst of traffic around the goalie box. The goal was her first of the season.

Just over three minutes later, at the 77:14 mark, Florida made it 2-0 when senior Lauren Silver scored an unlikely goal off a corner kick that bent in over goalkeeper Emily Rusk's head and into the back left corner. The goal was Silver's first of the season as well.

Alabama quickly answered 45 seconds later, when senior Laura Lee Smith took an assist from fellow senior Merel Van Dongen on a breakaway, which Smith buried into the back of the net to put Alabama on the board.

The momentum favored Alabama for the last 10 minutes, including a shot by freshman Lacey Clarida in the 85^th minute that seemed destined for the back of the net. However, the ball struck the crossbar and was cleared away by the Gators' defense. The Tide was unable to put one in the net to tie the game before the clock eventually ran out.

"I thought we took advantage on how we wanted to attack them," said Bramble. "I thought we could've scored another goal of two in the game. We had some really good looks. That stings a little bit."

Alabama will close out non-conference play Sunday, as the Tide takes on Alabama State. The game will air on SEC+ and will be UA's first day game, with a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaSoccer on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.