Tide rallies to top Missouri in regular-season finale
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Second-half goals from Brooke Steere and Marianna Annest lifted the No. 25 Alabama soccer team (11-4-4, 5-4-1 SEC) to a 2-1 victory over Missouri (5-9-3, 1-8-1 SEC) in regular season finale.
A second-half surge from the Alabama offense overcame an early Missouri goal. Steere found UA's equalizer off a corner kick from Felicia Knox. Almost 20 minutes later, Annest fired a shot into the upper left corner of the net off a pass from Knox, who tallied her second assist of the night.
"Mizzou played a great game tonight. I knew they would not make it easy on us," Alabama coach Wes Hart said. "They get a lot of numbers behind the ball. We did not help ourselves by giving away the early goal. We allowed them to sit even deeper.
"I was really pleased with our second half. We played with a lot of urgency and purpose. We did a great job of getting to the endline and creating chances."
Mizzou's Jenna Bartels scored the first goal of the night, finding the back of the net in the 11th minute.
Bella Hollenbach came up with three saves for the Tigers in the opening 45 minutes to give Missouri a 1-0 advantage heading into halftime.
But Steere found Alabama's equalizer in the 67th minute after getting her head on the end of a corner kick from Knox.
UA's second goal would come in the 86th minute as Knox dribbled across the top of the box, before making the pass to Annest on the back post. Annest took two touches and fired the ball into the upper left corner of the goal.
Alabama led the second half in shots, 8-4, in addition to pacing the game, 11-6.
Annest has now tallied the game-winning goal in three games while ranking second on the team in goals with four on the season. Knox tallied two assists on the night to give her six on the year and 31 over her career.
Steere netted her second goal off a corner kick this season after also heading the ball into the back of the net against LSU.
Up Next
Alabama will await seeding for the SEC Tournament in Pensacola, Fla.