Alabama Soccer Falls to No. 8 South Carolina, 5-2

Thursday, September 26

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7 p.m. CT

Alabama

5-4-1, 0-2-0

#8 South Carolina

8-1-0, 2-0-0

South Carolina

Alabama

Alabama Soccer Falls to No. 8 South Carolina, 5-2

9/26/2019 10:03:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Final Box Score Photo Gallery

Despite the early lead, the Tide could not secure the win

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama soccer team fell to the No. 8 South Carolina Gamecocks, 5-2, Thursday night at the Alabama Soccer Stadium.

The Crimson Tide started the game off with a quick and early lead. Freshman Reyna Reyes found the back of the net with a header off a corner kick by junior Kaley Verpaele. Later, Junior Casey Wertz increased the lead to two with an unassisted goal, following through off her own deflected penalty kick in the 22^nd minute. The Gamecocks responded by scoring two goals, Ryan Gareis in the 23^rd minute and Jyllissa Harris in the 41^st. Both squads entered the half at a tie game.

In the second half, South Carolina scored three additional goals – Luciana Zullo in the 48^th minute, Elexa Bahr in the 52^nd, and Camryn Dixon in the 72^nd.

From Head Coach Wes Hart

"They're number eight for a reason. I'll be surprised if they don't keep climbing higher and higher. We knew that they were a team that could stretch out and get a nice big shape. We knew we were going to be doing a lot of defending tonight. It was a little bit uncharacteristic of them to give up a couple goals, but 20 minutes in I think we found ourselves up 2-0 and not for a second was I content, thinking 'Okay, I know we've got this game.' We'll certainly have to look at film, but it just felt like our default was just to drop off and back, and that just left their players too much space inside."

Behind the Box Score

The Gamecocks outshot the Crimson Tide 19-8.
Wertz led the team with two shots taken, with one on frame.
The Tide earned seven more corner kicks than the Gamecocks (11-4)
Junior goalkeeper Alex Plavin grabbed six saves during the match.

Up Next

Alabama will travel to Knoxville Tenn. to take on the Tennessee Vols Sunday, Sept. 29 at 12 p.m. CT at the Regal Soccer Stadium.

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