They didn’t really know what to expect; they just knew it would be tough.
The Lady Bulldogs returned to Orange Beach, Ala., Saturday, to where former Bulldog keeper Courtney Hubert donned the Maroon and White for the last time a year ago.
The Lady Dawgs lost 2-1 to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“You could feel the tension in the air,” Betty Ann Casey said. “It took us the whole first half to get into it, but in the second half we had our best performance of the season.”
Alabama opened the scoring in the first stanza when a Crimson Tide player beat the Bulldog defense resulting in a one-on-one with Bulldog keeper Emily Meyers. The ball went past Meyers to give the Tide the early lead.
Junior midfielder April Berry knotted the score at one as she headed the ball into the back of the net on a well-placed throw-in from Casey.
With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Bama capitalized on its final scoring attempt.
The Tide played a corner kick into the box. After numerous failed attempts to clear the ball, Bama got an open shot and put the Tide up for good.
Despite the one goal difference, Casey said Meyers had one of her best games of the spring as the new keeper.
Meyers, the former roommate of Hubert, said she was honored to be playing keeper on the same field where Courtney last played.
“I thought it would be a lot tougher and emotional than it really was,” Meyers said. “She left me really big shoes to fill this year and I just wanted to honor her memory.”
State finished the spring season at 2-4-1 and won’t be in action again until the fall semester.