From Head Coach Wes Hart 

“Really proud of our performance tonight! I thought we came out on the front foot and created some good looks early, but unfortunately, conceded the first goal. We showed a lot of grit and resiliency, battling back from 0-1 and 1-2 deficits. I thought we played with urgency while chasing the game, but did not panic. We know our attack is capable of scoring goals. [We] Stuck to our game plan and were rewarded with some great goals.

“I loved our mentality in overtime. We were so close to ending it with a golden goal on a couple different occasions.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. Can point to a lot of great performances tonight, but Maddie Padelski was fantastic. She caused Northwestern problems every time she touched the ball.”

How It Happened 

• Northwestern took an early lead as a blocked shot bounced over to Kennedy Roesch 
• The Wildcats held the 1-0 advantage until the 68th minute when Larkin Thomason secured a bouncing ball inside the six-yard box, firing her shot high and into the back of the goal 
• Hayley Newman advanced a cross from Ava Goodin towards the back post, finding Megan Norkett for the goal 
• With less than six minutes to play in regulation, a cross from Gianna Paul sailed through the box towards Maddie Padelski on the back post for the equalizing header 
• The two teams would battle through two 10-minute overtime periods before facing off in penalty kicks 
• Nadia Ramadan, Thomason and Melina Rebimbas all scored for the Tide 
• Coralie Lallier would tally three crucial stops to give UA the 3-1 victory in PKs 
• Overall, Alabama outshout Northwestern 24-13 in the game as the Tide also led 10-6 in shots on goal 
• The Wildcats’ Nyamma Nelson made eight saves as Lallier tallied four saves throughout 110 minutes of action
• The penalty kick win was the first ever for the Crimson Tide as the program has gone into a penalty-kick shootout just twice in program history
• Thomason’s goal was her ninth of the year as Padelski netted her fifth shot 
• Paul now has seven assists on the season 
• Alabama has  reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years