Todd Bramble wasn’t about to complain.
Armed with all of the amenities anyone could want to occupy their time on a four-hour bus ride, the University of Alabama women’s soccer coach did what a lot of people would do: He took a nap.
Bramble could afford an afternoon siesta Tuesday content with the knowledge his Crimson Tide have made significant strides from a year ago.
Today, Alabama will try to take a bigger step when it plays South Carolina at 5 p.m. in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Orange Beach, Ala.
Alabama (9-7-3, 4-5-2 SEC) clinched the eighth and final seed in the tournament on Friday with a 3-2 victory against archrival Auburn in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The victory gave Alabama 14 points and helped it edge the University of Mississippi (12 points), which defeated Mississippi State 2-0 in what turned out to be the season finale for those teams.
Last year, Alabama sputtered to an 0-6 finish that prevented it from advancing to the SEC tournament. Now that his team is back in the SEC tournament for the first time since 2008, Bramble wants it to continue its fine play.
“We don’t have anything to lose,” Bramble said. “We have not talked a lot about (the SEC tournament) or our opponent. What has led to our success is focusing on ourselves.”
Bramble said the return of senior defender Veronika Wolfkeil and freshman forward Laura Lee Smith, who played at Jackson Prep, from injuries has sparked the team. Neither player played in a 4-1 loss to South Carolina on Oct. 7. That match was part of a five-match winless streak (0-4-1) that had Bramble worried his team wouldn’t be able to regroup.
But the Crimson Tide went 3-1-1 down the stretch, including a win at home against the University of Tennessee and a tie at the University of Georgia to put itself in position to control its destiny against Auburn.
Alabama used a penalty kick goal in the first half by redshirt freshman Theresa Diederich and a goal by Kendall Khanna in the second half to take a 2-0 lead only to watch as Auburn tied the match with five minutes to go. But Ashley Willis’ goal from 30 yards with less than three minutes remaining helped the Crimson Tide earn their first win against the Tigers since 2005. The victory also guaranteed Alabama its first winning season since 2003.
“Our team played fearless in a game they couldn’t lose,” Bramble said of the Auburn victory. “When we gave up the lead with five minutes to go I had flashbacks of a year ago. But what I am most proud of is the players could have said, ‘Oh no, here we go again,’ but they didn’t, and the rest is history.”
Bramble knows his team will face a challenge against top-seeded South Carolina (15-5), the regular-season and Eastern Division champion. Not only will the Crimson Tide have the contend with offensive player of the year Kayla Grimsley, but it also will face an opponent that undoubtedly has improved in the past month.
But Bramble believes his team also has matured and will receive a lift from the recent return of Wolfkeil and Smith. He feels the team that executes better in the penalty area will decide the outcome of a match he believes could go to penalty kicks.
If that’s the case, Bramble likes his team chances given its play down the stretch.
“It’s not like they got on a roll after something good happened to them,” Bramble said referring to the five-game winless streak. “They showed the mental and emotional toughness we have been looking for and it came through. They didn’t give up, they didn’t quit, they didn’t stop believing, and they kept plugging away and good things started to happen for them.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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