TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Vanderbilt and Alabama battled to a 1-1 tie in both teams’ Southeastern Conference opener Friday night at the UA Soccer Complex.
The Commodores (3-4-2) recorded their second tie of the year while Alabama (7-2-1) had their first.
“I thought we played well, but I think we lost our killer instinct about 40 minutes into the game,” said Vanderbilt head coach Ronnie Coveleskie. “We didn’t put the game away when we had a chance and then it was anybody’s game in the second half.”
Vanderbilt got on the board first when freshman Molly Kinsella notched her third goal of the season at the 37:26 mark. Megan Forester knocked the ball up the middle and then Kinsella ran it down and shot it high over the Alabama keeper for the goal.
Alabama tied the match with a minute and a half left in the first period on Victoria Frederick’s fourth goal of the season. Brooke Rogers and Rosaly Petriello recorded assists as the game went into the half even at 1-1.
The Commodores out shot the Crimson Tide 9-5 in the first half and held a 9-7 lead in the second half as both teams could not convert on scoring opportunities.
Bama keeper Justine Bernier recorded 13 saves, while VU keeper Rachel Bachtel had eight of her own.
VU finished with 21 shots, 14 on goal with Sarah Dennis leading the way with four shots, three of them on goal. UA had 17 shots, 11 coming on goal. Both teams had three shots in the first overtime, with the Tide taking the only two shots of the second overtime period.
“It was a hard fought battle both ways and we also felt fortunate that we dodged a couple of near misses,” added Coveleskie. “We learned some lessons from the first conference game. Alabama was a difficult team to play against and is a team to watch in the SEC.”
The Commodores will face Auburn Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. to close out the Alabama swing. They will then wrap up their six-match road swing against Florida and South Carolina next weekend.
