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Two goals, too good for Catamounts

Posted on Sep 06, 2010 in Sports

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Senior midfielder Allison Belsterling was double trouble Friday night, as her pair of goals and a Laura McCalla finish was enough to defeat the Western Carolina Catamounts 3-2.

The Blazers earned possession for much of the time early in the first half and were rewarded in the 14th minute off a Carolyn Polcari corner kick. Polcari sent the ball into the middle of the six yard box and found Belsterling towering over a Catamount defender to head the ball past the Carolina goalkeeper and put UAB ahead 1-0.

The Lady Blazers would see their advantage disappear after a mental lapse in the backline in the 30th minute. A seemingly safe ball rolled past the backline and drew senior goalkeeper Kate Blankenship out of goal.

But a miscommunication between the Blazer defense and Blankenship gave Western Carolina forward Christine Kaznowski an opportunity to sneak in and tap the ball past Blankenship. Defender Marie Yempuku could not save the slow roller from reaching the net, as the disaster successfully gave the Catamounts the 1-1 equalizer.

The Lady Blazers would bounce back eight minutes later when Lauren McCalla recorded her fifth goal in as many games to put UAB back on top 2-1. The Lady Blazers would ice the game in the 75th minute with a replay of the first goal of the game, a corner kick from Carolyn Polcari to a Belsterling header.

Belsterling’s two goals push her career total to three with her first goal coming in 2008. The Catamounts pressured late and retrieved a consolation goal in the 84th minute when midfielder Laura Greb blasted a 20-yard strike just past backup goalkeeper Alexis Braziel; however, the UAB defense would hold on to save the 3-2 victory.

UAB owned the stat sheet with 23 total shots, with 8 on target compared to their Western Carolina counterparts who ended the game with 7 total shots with 5 on target. The victory was the first home win of the season and improves the Blazers’ record to 3-2 overall.

The Lady Blazers follow Friday night’s showing and Sunday’s cross-town meeting with Samford with home matches against Middle Tennessee State on Thursday September 9 and North Florida on Monday September 13.

 Email: tabdalla@uab.edu

 




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