The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s soccer team gave up two early goals Sunday evening and fell 2-0 at Alabama in the close of non-conference action for the Mocs.
“Tough first 20 minutes for us,” Chattanooga head coach Gavin McKinney said. “Alabama is one of the top teams in the country and showed why.”
Maddy Anselc scored what would prove to be the game winner at the 9:53 mark of the match. That was followed by a quick goal in the 12th minute from C.
Jimenez Delgado. Both goals were unassisted.
The Mocs stepped up its defense after that and did not allow another goal the remainder of the game. However, the Tide outshot UTC 24-5 with the Mocs getting all five of their shots in the second half.
“As the game went on, we got better and better,” McKinney said. “We continued to battle for each other which was great to see. We created a few great chances in the second half and were close to getting it back to 2-1 a few times.”
Freshman Chloe Arnold (Bristol, Tenn.) had two shots, both on goal while sophomore Jordan Mueller’s (Hendersonville, Tenn.) one shot was on goal.
Mueller had a goal denied in the second half. She charged into the box on a corner kick and her header was a bit too late as the Alabama keeper Kat Stratton had already corralled the pass. The two collided and Mueller was called for the foul as the ball dribbled to the back of the net.
Alabama had seven shots on goal. Taylor Morgan had a game-high five shots for the Tide while Abbie Boswell had three shots with one on goal and two of Casey Wertz’ three shots had a chance.
Chattanooga keeper Melia Correa (Clarksville, Tenn.) had five saves on the day with three in the first half and two in the second.
“We always want to test ourselves against top opposition in or out of conference play, so we are ready for the tough games in SoCon which starts this week,” McKinney said. “We have learned a lot about ourselves and we are ready for league play.”
The Mocs open Southern Conference action next weekend on the road, closing out a month-long stretch away from Finley Stadium. Friday’s matchup will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at East Tennessee State and then Sunday at Western Carolina. Follow all the action online at GoMocs.com.