Off the Ball with Carly Mygrants
9/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Sept. 17, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama sophomore Carly Mygrants began her career at Alabama as an offensive force last season. Playing in 17 games and earning one start as a true freshman, she ended the season tied for the team lead in goals with five and ranked second on the squad in points with 11. This season, under new head coach Todd Bramble, Mygrants has made the move to defense where she finds herself as an anchor on the back line.
"I think Carly is like several of the other players, when we got here we intentionally didn't do any background research to see where they played or what they had done the year before," Bramble said. "She showed the qualities that we like to have in our outside backs in that she's a good one-on-one defender, she's a good athlete, she's fast, she can strike the ball with both feet and she had some natural attacking tendencies in her personality. So we trained her all last spring at left back and I think she's starting to find a home there."
Although Mygrants showed promise last season on offense, and before that led her high school twice in scoring, she admits that she has always been more of a defensive-minded player. Even as a recruit she expected the change to come sooner rather than later since most coaches saw her progressing more on defense at the collegiate level.
"In club and high school there were times they tried me at forward but I just don't have the killer instinct like some forwards do that go to goal the whole time," Mygrants said. "I was never a forward or had the mindset of being a forward. I like to hang back and help the defense more."
While having the right mindset has helped to make the transition smoother, there have still been various adjustments that take more time getting used to. As a midfielder last year, Mygrants was not familiar with the way the defense relied on one another for support when one member of the line attacks.
"That was hard, because as an outside midfielder, they're kind of similar, but you could come back and go as you wanted, but being in the back your first priority is defense," Mygrants said. "So you have to think first about the team and defense rather than thinking about whether or not you want to go back and play against the attack."
But as a defender, with offensive firepower, Mygrants is a useful tool in Alabama's attacking scheme. As a result, she will be relied on to steady the back line of the defense as well as attack the other team offensively.
"She's got the freedom to go and she's fit enough to get up and down the field and do it," Bramble said. "She's got the green light and part of being a team is that when she is gone, we've got to be organized to cover for her, but we don't want her to have any reservations or hesitations about getting into the attack for us, because she can help us by getting forward."
In the season opener at Memphis, Mygrants helped solidify an outstanding effort by the defense, holding the reigning Conference USA champions to just one goal in the 1-1 tie. In the three home contests thus far the Crimson Tide have yet to yield a goal, including posting a 1-0 double overtime victory over Wright State last Sunday.
The Crimson Tide will return to the pitch when it hosts its only tournament of the season. Alabama will play two matches and a total of four will be played at the UA Soccer Complex next weekend. The Crimson Tide opens the weekend against UTC on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m.
