Alabama
Arkansas
Alabama Soccer Battles in a 1-0 Loss to Arkansas
9/23/2018 9:57:00 PM | Soccer
The Tide fell after a late second half goal Sunday night
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. – Alabama finished on the short end of a 1-0 decision in its game against Arkansas Sunday night at the Alabama Soccer Complex. The Tide watched its record move to 6-5-1, 0-3-0 SEC, while the Razorbacks ended the week at 7-2-2, 2-1-0 SEC.
Head coach Wes Hart commented on the loss: "One thing we can learn from tonight is we aren't good enough to think our soccer can win out. Without the willingness to compete and fight, the soccer doesn't matter. I think Arkansas showed us what it means to want to win. Whether winning or losing a game, we can't dwell on it. I hope we can learn from tonight and focus on LSU."
The first half started off slow as the Crimson Tide put up its only shots of the half in the 25th minute, and traded possession of the ball for the next five minutes.
The Razorbacks threatened to take the lead in the 30th minute after the Tide committed a foul and Arkansas was rewarded with a penalty kick. Junior Kayla Mckeon missed the penalty kick, while sophomore goalkeeper Alex Plavin recorded a save. Mckeon was able to rebound the save and shoot again, but the Alabama defense deflected the ball from advancing any further.
Arkansas had a couple of good looks down the stretch, but Alabama was able to provide enough resistance and play tough defense to keep the visitors off the scoreboard in the first half.
The game-deciding sequence came in the 78th minute when the Razorback's leading scorer Mckeon knocked in her fifth goal of the season thanks to sophomore Taylor Malham's look across the box.
As for the Tide, it struggled to find a rhythm offensively, but the backline continued to fend off the Razorback attack for the balance of the game and prevented them from adding to their lead.
Despite putting up two more shots in the second half, Alabama could not capitalize on their limited offensive opportunities. In the end, Arkansas outshot Alabama 17-7, had two more shots on goal (5-2), and had more corner kicks (7-1). However, the Tide registered more saves (4-3), two saves in each half.
Alabama will hit the road to Baton Rouge, as they take on LSU Thursday Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. The contest can be seen on SEC Network +.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaSoccer on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaSoccer on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
