Alabama
4-5-0
South Carolina
7-3-0
Soccer Drops SEC Opener to South Carolina
9/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
TUSCALOOSA ?? South Carolina's Annie Galloway scored two goals and led the Gamecocks (7-3-0, 1-0-0) to a 2-0 win Friday night over Alabama (4-5-0, 0-1-0) in the Southeastern Conference opener at the UA Soccer Stadium.
Galloway put South Carolina up 1-0 at 22:38 after she won a ball inside the penalty box and fired a shot that clanged off the right post and into the net. South Carolina carried the 1-0 lead into halftime before Galloway added her second goal at 51:51.
"South Carolina did an outstanding job in all facets of the game," Alabama head coach Don Staley said. "They beat us to the ball tonight and aggressively went after us. They played our game and capitalized on one of our mistakes in the first half."
Galloway is the first player to score more than one goal against Alabama this season. Her first half goal broke a 183 minute scoreless streak by the Crimson Tide defense dating back to September 10. Alabama had only allowed three goals in its last six games entering Friday night.
Alabama did manage to get a few quality looks at the net. While the Tide only managed five shots in the game, three were on-goal. Jordan O'Banion had a nice one-timer from the right corner in the second half that nearly got Alabama on the board. However, South Carolina goalkeeper Laura Armstrong made one of her three saves in the game to keep the Tide at a distance.
Kailey Corken led Alabama's offensive attack in the game with two shots, both on-goal.
"We had some opportunities and Armstrong came up big for them," Staley said.
Alabama will now turn its attention to the No. 24-ranked Florida Gators, who come to town Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Last season the Tide held a 2-0 lead on Florida with 12 minutes left to play before finishing in a 2-2 tie.
"We have to put this behind us quickly because we'll have a strong Florida team coming in here to play Sunday," Staley said.
The game will be broadcast locally on The Capstone 90.7 FM and live stats will be available on www.rolltide.com
Team Stats
Annie Galloway (3)
10 yards out, hit left post
22:38
Annie Galloway (4)
Assisted By: Courtney Cobbs
one-timer from 5 yards outs
51:51
