Soccer Opens Season with 1-1 Draw

Friday, August 29

Memphis, Tenn.

5:00 p.m

Alabama

0-0-1

Memphis

1-0-1

Team	1	2	OT 1	OT 2	Final F
Alabama	1	0	0	0	1
Memphis	0	1	0	0	1

Sophomore Victoria Frederick scored for the Tide in the games 16th minute.

Soccer Opens Season with 1-1 Draw

8/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Soccer

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Alabama women's soccer team opened the Todd Bramble era with a 1-1 draw against Memphis Friday night at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis. The Crimson Tide opened the scoring early but yielded a second half goal to earn the tie. After the day Alabama posts a 0-0-1 record while the Tigers move to 1-0-1 on the year.

"It is definitely the game that we needed," Coach Bramble said. "We needed to go through that experience to see what we were made of and I am happy with what I saw. That is a game that we will grow tremendously from as a team in a lot of different areas. To come up here and get a point on the road is a great way to start the season."

Alabama sophomore forward Victoria Frederick got the Crimson Tide on the board in the 16th minute when she beat Memphis goalkeeper Elis Kuhar-Pitters from 15 yards out off a pass from freshman Shannon Lathrop. The point for Lathrop marks a career first for the newcomer from Birmingham, Ala.

Memphis evened the match in the 52nd minute when Laura Laufenberg found the back of the net from the left side off an assist by Krista Turner and Ashley Berra. Both goalkeepers clamped down the rest of the way to secure the tie for their team.

The Lady Tigers out-shot the Crimson Tide 22-6 but junior Kara Gudmens kept the reigning conference USA champ at bay with eight saves in 110 minutes of action. Kuhar-Pitters made two saves for the Lady Tigers.

A pair of Alabama sophomores led the team in shots. Frederick was efficient with her goal and two shots while midfielder Rosaly Petriello also got off two shots. Berra and Elaine Sedgewick paced Memphis with three shots apiece.

"What we turned into tonight was a counter-attacking team," Bramble said. "The first 30 minutes of the game was fairly even. We got a goal during that time where we were playing some pretty good soccer."

In a physical contests that saw the Crimson Tide record nine fouls compared to the seven from the Lady Tigers, Alabama kept its intensity all game and put pressure on the defensive third by recording five corner kicks. On top of Gudmens, sophomore Carly Mygrants , junior Alex Butera and senior Colleen Posey played the whole 110 minutes.

With the extended time on the pitch Bramble applauded the effort of his players who came off the bench. Sophomores Brooke Rogers and Grace Lawson logged over 50 quality minutes while Callie Pike and Veronika Wolfkeil gave the Crimson Tide a boost with over 30 minutes each.

Alabama will return to Tuscaloosa to open its home slate against Jacksonville State on Sunday, August 31 at 7:00 p.m. at the UA Soccer Complex. Next week Alabama will log the frequent flyer miles as the Crimson Tide heads to the Los Angeles area to play two matches. UA will open the trip on Friday, Sept. 5 against Cal State Fullerton and then play the reigning national champions in USC on Sunday, Sept. 7.