Bramble Points to Defense as Key to New Era
8/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Aug. 21, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - From the moment first-year head soccer coach Todd Bramble stepped on campus he made a point to his new squad that defense was not only going to be a priority, but a strength of the team. With position changes to key members of the team, Bramble has shown just that early on this fall.
"The primary mode of defending in the past has been a lot of man-to-man," Bramble said. "We have pretty much changed that to a 100 percent zonal defending. That is a steep learning curve if mistakes are made it turns into an automatic scoring chance. The understanding of what we want to do, the concentration of the players and their ability to communicate and the teamwork that goes into it, that is a lot to ask.
I felt pretty good coming out of the spring like we had our concepts in place but now we are playing for real. We are going to see a ton of really good forwards this fall so the focus has been to get the defense to operate as a group. I like the group we have back there."
Making the transition and being relied upon heavily to anchor the back four are two established attacking players. Junior Alex Butera will be asked to command the backfield as a center back while sophomore Carly Mygrants will play on the outside.
Butera was tied for the team lead last season with 13 points on four goals and a team-leading five assists all coming from an attacking position. Mygrants was second on the squad with 11 points on a team-leading five goals and one assist. Mygrants spent time between the forward and midfield positions.
"Both players have spent a significant amount of their career in attacking positions," Bramble said. "They both logged a lot of minutes in the back this spring and not only do I think that they have acquired a comfort level with the position but I think they generally enjoy it as well. Alex is a very good organizer and communicator and that is key coming out of the center back position.
The great thing about having Carly out wide is though her first responsibility is to defend, once we establish possession, she has a high level of comfort to move forward out of the back. Those two have done a great job adapting to the conversion."
Bramble is also looking to rely on the senior leadership of Colleen Posey in the center back position alongside Butera. Posey has played 56 games in a Crimson Tide uniform, playing in 19 contests in each of the last two seasons. Posey handed out one assists last year.
Fellow senior Cara Kelly will find significant time on the outside in the back four. Kelly has played in 50 career games for Alabama, including 18 games last season in the backfield. Kelly has four career points on two goals.
Giving depth to the backline will be senior Callie Pike. The Tuscaloosa, Ala. native will see time on the outside where her versatility will come into play for the aggressive Crimson Tide back four. Pike was one of four players to suit up in all 20 games last season and has played in 56 career matches.
Providing depth in the center will be sophomore Hailey Hull. The 5-8 defender can play in the air and neutralize 50-50 balls. Mentioned for her versatility in all positions has been fellow sophomore Grace Lawson. The Hendersonville, Tenn. native played in 19 games and handed out one assist as a true freshman.
The Alabama defense will be put to the test to open the 2008 season against reigning Conference USA champ Memphis. The Tide will have to hit the road to play the Tigers on Aug. 29 at 5:00 p.m. at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis.
