Alabama soccer season ends in cloud of disappointment

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. | The loss to Auburn brought a bitter end to a season filled with disappointment and frustration, leaving the Alabama soccer team and head coach Todd Bramble wanting more.

The University of Alabama's soccer team played in its final game of the 2013 soccer season Thursday night. The Crimson Tide finished with a 4-7 overall record and a 6-12 SEC record. Pia Rijsdijk led the scoring with seven goals.

“I wish we could have had more offensive production out of some of our other players,” Bramble said. “For one reason or another we just couldn’t get the consistent play needed to be successful.”

Auburn beat Alabama in a 1-0 game in the rain Thursday, ending the Tide’s season with a 4-7 record in Southeastern Conference play and a 6-12 record overall.

Alabama was hit with an injury to a key player early in the season. Sophomore Merel Van Dongen was leading the team in goals scored when she suffered a season-ending leg injury while away training with the Netherlands Women’s National Team.

Junior Pia Rijsdijk took command as the new leading goal scorer and finished the season with seven goals. She was selected as an All-SEC performer for the third consecutive year on Nov. 4. Sophomore Abby Lutzenkirchen praised Rijsdijk’s performance from a teammate’s perspective.

“She’s so fun to watch play everyday,” Lutzenkirchen said. “[Rijsdijk] is a hard player to defend in practice, and she’s very deserving of the award she got.”

The team put on rollercoaster performances throughout the season, beginning with a 3-0 loss to Wake Forest. The home-opening 2-1 overtime victory over Georgia State was followed by a discouraging four-game losing streak, including a 6-0 loss at Memphis. Alabama rode a three-game winning streak during the middle of the season, but that came to an end when they played host to LSU on Oct. 6 -- which led to another four-game losing streak. Finally, the 1-0 loss to Auburn closed the vault on a season plagued by disappointing results.

Defensively, UA struggled to keep its opponents from blasting the ball into the net. The Crimson Tide gave up 39 goals in 18 games, and opponents were averaging 2.17 goals per game.

The Tide’s four seniors Molly Atherton, Sophie Campise, Shelby Church and Kendall Khanna are leaving the team, having played their final season of soccer at UA. Bramble said he was proud of the work each of them had put in during their time with the team.

“I’m really happy for the sacrifices they’ve made to change the culture here,” Bramble said. “The fruits of their labor will have an impact on the players that come play here in the future.”

Lutzenkirchen said the hard work and dedication she watched the departing seniors put forth makes her want to work even harder.

“They have all been great teammates, they’re a lot of fun in the locker room and at practices, and it’s been great having the opportunity to play with them,” Lutzenkirchen said.

Bramble said the play he was able to get out of the freshmen was a pleasant surprise to him this season. He said Auburn Mercer was one of the freshmen that made big contributions to the team, she played 90 minutes in several games this season, and she’s a player with a lot of upside to her game.

This season might not have lived up to the expectations of neither the players nor the coaching staff, but Bramble said the outcome of this season doesn’t have to dictate what happens next season.

“We’d like to get our program to a place where one injury won’t affect the whole portion of our team,” Bramble said. “We have to work our way up in the (SEC), constantly perform from half to half or game to game.”

Alabama dismantles Tennessee in blowout win

Alabama beat Tennessee 45-10 in a game at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. Wideout Kevin Norwood had six reception for 112 yards and a touchdown. Safety Landon Collins started in place of the injured Vinnie Sunseri.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. | Alabama continued on its path toward an undefeated season, as the  Crimson Tide cruised to a 45-10 victory over Tennessee on Saturday.

The Crimson Tide faithful got what they came for Saturday afternoon as Alabama dismantled its Southeastern Conference rival to the north. The crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium was loud and proud for 60 minutes—even though the game was essentially over by halftime.

“You get defined by what you do every week,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I think we want our identity to be that every guy is going to try to dominate his space when he plays his position.”

 “They kind of disrespected us by calling us Red team the whole week,” Crimson Tide quarterback McCarron said regarding Volunteer coach Butch Jones’ practice reference toward Alabama. “We feel like we’re not just anybody, so we kind of took it personally.”

McCarron finished with another sizzling performance, completing 19 of 27 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns.

Alabama wide receiver Kevin Norwood was a recipient of many of McCarron’s throws on the day and finished with a stellar performance, including six receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown. Norwood made arguably the highlight reel play of the day in the third quarter when he collected a back shoulder pass for a 34-yard gain.

“AJ (McCarron) just looked my way and the next thing you know I was in the air, and I looked at the ball and was on the ground after that,” Norwood said.

“Kevin (Norwood) has been so consistent throughout his career here in making big plays,” Saban said. “He’s a great athlete. He has great hands. He made a great catch today—I mean an unbelievable catch.”

UA running backs T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake both played well in the backfield for the Tide. Drake led the team in rushing with 89 yards on 14 carries, and Yeldon finished with 72 yards on 15 carries.

UA safety Landon Collins got the nod to replace injured safety Vinnie Sunseri at the strong safety position and had a big game in his fourth career start Saturday against the Volunteers. Collins led the team in tackles (six, five solo) along with defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson.

With under a minute remaining before halftime, Collins recorded an 89-yard interception return for a touchdown off an errant pass from Volunteer quarterback Justin Worley.

“When I saw opportunities to make plays, that’s what I did for my team, and as a player, I try to make everything easy for my team as much as I can,” Collins said.

Earlier in the week there was a question to whether or not injury-riddled cornerback Deion Belue would be able to start in Saturday’s game. He ended up starting and played well, intercepting a pass in the second quarter and returning it 28 yards into Volunteer territory.

With injuries continuing to nag the team, Alabama’s bye week couldn’t come at a better time. Saban said UA defensive lineman Brandon Ivory did not play against Tennessee for medical reasons, and running back Jalston Fowler did not return after halftime due to a concussion he suffered in the first half.

“The extra time is going to help us get healthy, get some rest, and maybe improve a little bit in lots of areas,” Saban said.

After the win over Tennessee, Alabama improved to 8-0 on the season and maintained its No.1 ranking. The Crimson Tide will play the LSU Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Tide's second-half attack clinches win over Bulldogs

Alabama soccer's forward Pia Rijsdijk scored a goal in the game against Mississippi State, her sixth of the year.

STARKVILLE, Miss. | The Alabama soccer team’s second-half scoring attack propelled it to a 3-1 victory over Mississippi State on Friday.

“The team showed great character in the game, because we went down a goal and were able to come back and win,” Alabama head coach Todd Bramble said.

After a scoreless first-half battle, MSU forward Elisabeth Sullivan lit up the scoreboard for the Bulldogs in the 54^th minute. Sullivan chipped the ball over Alabama goalkeeper Emily Rusk on an assist from forward Shannen Jainudeen and midfielder Tiffany Huddleston.

In the 58^th minute, Alabama midfielder Theresa Diederich took possession of a pass from midfielder Molly Atherton, cut in past her defender on the right, and shot past MSU goalkeeper CJ Winship to give Alabama its first goal and tie the game at 1-1.

Alabama scored its second goal in the 60^th minute after forward Pia Rijsdijk shot low past the goalkeeper off a cross from forward Katie Bourgeois. The goal was Rijsdijk’s sixth of the season and a team high. With time winding down, Alabama forward Kendall Khanna scored on a low shot past the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation in the 85^th minute to seal the 3-1 win for the Tide.

 Bramble said his team spent too much time trying to attack up the middle in the first half, and the team did a good job of attacking more out wide in the second half.

“Even in spite of going down a goal, they stuck to that game plan and didn’t let that rattle them, didn’t panic. And for the goals that we scored, the finishing was really clinical, ” Bramble said. “It was really well executed on our part. I was impressed.”

Rijsdijk has scored all six of her goals in the last eight matches and said the help of her teammates combined with her own hard work and composure was key in earning the win.

“I want to put everything out there, work hard, have [the team] feel like they can rely on me,” Rijsdijk said.

Both teams took a similar amount of total shots (14- 12), but Alabama led MSU in shots-on-goal differential (11-5). The win improved the Crimson Tide to 4-5 in the Southeastern Conference and 6-10 overall.

Alabama travels to play Ole Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m. (CST) in its final road game of the regular season. The game will be nationally televised, live on Fox SportSouth and ESPN3.com.