The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
at Kentucky*
Kentucky Cools Off Hot Blazers, 4-1
10/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 23, 2005
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Travis Young scored twice and Michael Strong tallied a pair of assists at Kentucky jumped in front of UAB early and held on for a 4-1 victory over the Blazers in men's college soccer action Sunday. UK (6-6-4, 3-4-1 C-USA) built a 2-0 halftime lead and kept UAB (8-6-1, 3-3-1 C-USA) at bay in the second half, sans a penalty kick goal by Shane Elsner, to win. UAB had won two straight and three of its last four heading into the match.
The win for Kentucky moves the Wildcats into a three-way tie for third place in Conference USA standings with UAB and South Carolina with one weekend of league soccer to play. SMU is in first place with 21 points and a 7-0-0 league record while Marshall's 13 points puts the Thundering Herd alone in second. The top four seeds host first round game in the C-USA postseason tournament Nov. 5.
Kentucky's Michael D'Agostino scored on a 25-yard free kick in the 14th minute to begin scoring against UAB on a rainy afternoon Sunday. Brandon Stewart scored on a loose ball in front played in by Strong in the 34th and UK had a 2-0 advantage. The Wildcats out-shot UAB 7-2 before halftime.
Travis Young scored in the 75th minute from Strong, then again in the 85th minute from Jess Mitchell and Brad Frederick. Both tallies were on counter-attacks from UAB's pressure. Feeling the pressure of being behind, the Blazers out-dueled the Wildcats, 11-5, in second half shots.
"The stats show a fairly accurate picture of the way the game was played," UAB head coach Mike Getman said, "It was played the way they wanted to play in the first half. Then we controlled the game in the second half. But, when you are behind at halftime, it's tough to chase the game."
Shane Elsner scored the Blazers' only goal - a penalty kick in the 87th minute of play. Andy Guenebaum notched three saves in net for the Wildcats. A.J. Robles notched a pair for UAB.
Like last year's 2-1 UK win in Birmingham, the match was a physical affair. UK was whistled for 24 fouls to the Blazers' 12.
UAB returns to West Campus Field for the final weekend of Conference USA regular season play Friday and Sunday, Oct. 28 and 30, when they host UCF and Florida International, respectively.
Both Florida schools had to cancel weekend matches with South Carolina and East Carolina due to the impending threat of Hurricane Wilma. A conference call will take place early this week to determine make up dates and times for those four league matches, which must be completed before the Nov. 5 C-USA quarterfinals played at the home sites of the top four teams.
