The Utah Valley women’s soccer club fell to an SEC opponent in #18 Alabama 4-1 at Clyde field on Tuesday, Sep. 6. The Crimsons tide got things rolling offensively early and the Wolverines were unable to hold back the offensive onslaught.
Sydney Bushman scored the lone goal for the Wolverines in the loss. Heather Stainbrook led the team in shots with four and Bushman and Faith Webber tied to lead the team in shots on goal with two. Megan Sullivan led the Wolverines in assists with one. Idalia Serrano came up with six saves in the matchup but allowed three goals, all in the first half. Substitution Leah Wolf had five saves and allowed one goal in the second half. The Wolverines were out-shot 20-14 by UA. The Crimson Tide managed 15 shots on goal to the Wolverines’ six.
The Crimson tide came out swinging early, with their first goal coming in just the sixth minute. UA’s Ashlynn Serepca managed to get a shot past Wolverine keeper Idalia Serrano. A few moments later in the ninth minute, UA’s Reyna Reyes managed to find the back of the net as well. With the Wolverines in a 2-0 deficit early, they needed to slow the momentum of UA.
Uncharacteristically for the Wolverines, it seemed they were outmatched defensively and struggled to come up with turnovers and to get stops in the contest. Already in a two-goal deficit, the Wolverines would allow another goal in the 22nd minute from UA’s Parker Mattingly. Essentially unable to get any decent looks at the goal in the first half, the Wolverines went into the break down 3-0.
Utah Valley showed life coming out of the locker room. Just a minute into the second half of play, Sullivan found Bushman who fired a shot into the back of the net in the 46th minute. The Wolverines would get the majority of their chances in the second half after only getting off four shots in the first.
Ultimately, Utah Valley was unable to capitalize on those chances and the Crimson Tide put the nail in the coffin with a goal in the 71st minute by Kate Henderson. Down late and struggling to keep up defensively, the Wolverines fell at home to Alabama 4-1.
The Wolverines get a short rest before moving on to play the 2021-22 national runner-up in the #13 ranked BYU Cougars in Provo. The match will take place on Saturday, Sep. 10, kicking off at 6 p.m. MT and streaming on BYUtv.
