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Men’s soccer ends successful preseason

Posted on Aug 30, 2010 in Sports

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The Blazers entertained West Campus Field Saturday night with a terrific performance in their lone home exhibition, thrashing nationally ranked UNC Wilmington 3-0.

The Blazers took control of the game from the start but did not find the net until minutes before halftime. UAB finally pieced something together when defender Reed Matte sent a long ball just inside the penalty box, which was met by the head of midfielder Chris Williams. With a defender closing in, Williams timed his jump well, as he sent the ball over the Seahawks goalkeeper’s outstretched arms to give the Blazers a 1-0 advantage with just over five minutes left until the halftime whistle.

Williams’ goal was his second of the preseason. The Seahawks played more aggressively early in the second half and had a scoring opportunity pass them by when a ten-yard shot kissed the right post. The Blazers made them pay as they raised the score to 2-0 ten minutes into the second half, thanks to junior forward Babayele Sodade’s first goal of the preseason. Sodade found the ball near the outside corner of the six-yard box and blasted it into the far side of the goal after a fine headed pass from forward Kofi Gyawu.

Freshman forward Norris Howze completed the scoring with a successful penalty take with just over one minute remaining in the match. Fellow freshman Patrick Wall drew the penalty after being taken down inside the box. Howze recorded his second goal of the preseason with a composed kick that found the bottom left corner of the goal. Even more comforting to Blazer fans was the play of goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski and the entire Blazer backline.

The UAB defense frustrated Wilmington’s attack throughout the night, and Woszczynski recorded six saves to ensure the shutout of the nationally ranked Seahawks. Saturday night’s victory ended the Blazers’ exhibition season with an unbeaten record of 2-0-1.

The Blazers will kick off the 2010 regular season in the opening round of the Virginia Classic. There they will first meet defending national champion Virginia on Friday, followed by a Sunday game against Virginia Tech.

UAB will open their home regular season play when they host the UAB “Soccer for a Cure” Classic, where they will host Charlotte on Friday, September 10 and North Florida the following night.

Email: tabdalla@uab.edu




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