Alabama soccer danced into the second round of the NCAA Tournament after topping Northwestern in penalty kicks.
The Crimson Tide began the game as it had all season, advancing hard on offense and keeping the ball near the Wildcats goal. The momentum shifted in the 27th minute when Northwestern gained the lead.
The go-ahead shot was initially blocked by Alabama’s keeper Coralie Lallier, but before she could get back on her feet, forward Kennedy Roesch punched it in.
The back-and-forth battle continued with both teams exchanging shots until halftime. Neither team secured any other goals in the first half.
Alabama got on the board in the 68th minute when forward Larkin Thomason netted the equalizer. After battling inside the box, Thomason put a shot up, bouncing it off a defender’s leg and over the goalkeeper’s gloves.
Both teams were now fighting for a momentum shifting goal, and the Wildcats found it just six minutes later.
A long pass soared over everyone on the field, finding a lone Wildcat inside the box. Staring down Lallier, forward Megan Norkett buried a belter into the top left corner of the net. Northwestern had regained the lead, and the clock was draining.
Alabama’s last chance to dance was approaching fast, but it wasn’t done just yet.
Forward Gianna Paul tightroped down the field, eluding two defenders when she launched the ball across the field. Before the ball touched the grass, Maddie Padelski secured the tying goal off a header, and the stands erupted.
Multiple times this season the Crimson Tide has come from behind to win or tie matches, and the team did it again.
“We talk about being a 90-minute team,” Thomason said. “If we’re able to push to the 90th minute, then we’re going to win games.”
The match remained tied 2-2 as the clock ran out. There was overtime in Tuscaloosa and every fan in attendance was on their feet.
With an additional 10 minutes on the clock, it was anyone’s game. Both teams fought back and forth, putting up shots, but neither found the net before the clock drained again and brought the match to sudden death. In another scoreless overtime half, the game officially ended tied at 2-2, but this is a tournament: One team has to advance.
Both teams’ seasons were on the line as keepers and players went one on one. Lollier was in the net first. The Wildcats shooter lined up and fired, and Lollier took a misstep and missed the ball. Northwestern was up 1-0 when midfielder Nadia Ramadan lined up. Mirroring the previous attempt, the Wildcats’ keeper hesitated and missed the ball. Alabama then netted two more penalties, while Lollier blocked three straight. The Crimson Tide was victorious on its home turf.
After the game, Padelski said that the team has been practicing for a situation like this. She said that the coaches had been training them for a high stress environment.
“I loved our mentality in overtime. We were so close to ending it with a golden goal on a couple different occasions,” head coach Wes Hart said. “We were awesome in the shootout. We spent a lot of time preparing for one leading up to postseason play and it showed. Our PKs were perfect and Coralie came up huge in goal.”
Alabama now faces top seeded Stanford on Friday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
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