University of Georgia
Alabama
Soccer Drops Friday Road Contest At Alabama
October 24, 2014 | Soccer
Highlights and an interview with head coach Steve Holeman after Friday night's match-up with Alabama.
Oct. 24, 2014
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. --- The 22nd-ranked Georgia soccer team suffered a 2-0 road loss to Alabama Friday night at the Alabama Soccer Complex in Tuscaloosa, with the Crimson Tide scoring in the first half and adding a second after halftime to put the Bulldogs away.
Georgia now stands at 10-4-1 on the season and 5-3-1 in SEC play, in sixth place in the conference standings with two regular season games remaining. The Bulldogs will face Kentucky at 6 p.m. Sunday night in Athens.
"Alabama is a very good team," said head coach Steve Holeman. "They had a great game plan and they executed it extremely well. I don't think there were any secrets - we saw them on video and tonight we had a difficult time breaking them down. We did create a lot of good chances, but at the end of the day Alabama was the better team and deserved to win."
"This was obviously a tough one, a tough loss," Holeman said. "We'll have to head back to Athens and put this one behind us. It doesn't get any easier from here. Kentucky is one of the top teams in the country. We're going to have our hands full. But, we feel like we're a pretty good team, so we need to put things back together and we'll be good to go for Sunday."
Alabama struck first in the 23rd minute when Merel van Dongen played Laura Lee Smith, who finished from the right side with a screamer over the head of Georgia keeper Louise Hogrell to make it 1-0.
The Bulldogs had their opportunities over the remainder of the first frame, including with 19 minutes to play when Becca Rasmussen had a header off a cross sail high. Minutes later, a corner kick chance was sent in to the head of Gabby Seiler in the middle, but the offering was blocked out and cleared away by the Alabama back line. Rachel Garcia then had a shot from the middle saved by a diving Emily Rusk in goal, and with 12 minutes to play in the first Seiler had a nice run in the middle end with a left-footed shot go high over the bar.
Hogrell came up with two big saves for Georgia early in the second half, parrying one over the crossbar before diving to stop a ball that wasn't cleared following the ensuing corner kick.
But it would then move to 2-0 in favor of the Crimson Tide when Theresa Diederich played Smith to the right wing, and Smith's ball inside found the foot of Lacey Clarida for a one-timer past Hogrell to the bottom right in the 74th minute.
Georgia continued to search for their first goal of the day, and a good chance came following a Laura Eddy corner kick as the ball bounced inside the 18 and was loose for several moments before Alabama could finally clear it without the Bulldogs taking a shot on the play. With under seven minutes to go and Georgia still trailing by two goals, freshman Kelsey Killean sent one in from close range, but Rusk dove to poke it away with one hand and preserve her shutout.
Nearing the final whistle, Caroline Waters had a shot go high on a breakaway from the right side, and Alabama held on for the victory.
Seiler led Georgia with five shots on the night, while Hogrell finished with seven saves.
Sunday's matchup vs. the Wildcats will mark Senior Night for Laura Eddy and Carli Shultis, who will be honored in a pre-game ceremony. Admission is free, and the game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network+.
