The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Finishes 2005 Regular Season With FIU
10/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 29, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's soccer team hosts Conference USA affiliate men's soccer member Florida International at 1 p.m. CT Sunday in both a festive afternoon for Blazer fans and a crucial match for both teams. The final regular season match will include Senior Day ceremonies to honor Leandro de Oliveira, Maurice Hughes, Jason McLaughlin and A.J. Robles, who will be playing their final home match at West Campus Field. The four have helped UAB to a 31-22-6 overall record over the last three seasons.
But the match is important to both UAB and Florida International as seeding in the 2005 Conference USA Tournament is at stake. The Blazers could pull into second place in league standings with a win coupled with an SMU victory at South Carolina Sunday. While the Gamecocks and FIU have another weekend to play and could feasibly pull ahead of UAB after this weekend, a second place standing after today's match would ensure a top four seed in the league tournament for the Blazers.
"We not only need to win to help our seeding in the Conference USA Tournament," UAB head coach Mike Getman explained. "But we need to win to help our chances of receiving at-large consideration for the NCAA Tournament should we not win the conference tournament. The selection committee often looks at not only how well you've done over the course of the year, but how well you are playing at the end of the season. We've won three out of four and four out of six. We need to keep that up to let the selection committee know we're a good team to choose. We'll need every bit of help to beat a very good FIU team, so we hope the community of Birmingham will come support us and pay tribute to four fine seniors in our final regular season match."
An FIU win would pull the Golden Panthers even in second place with Marshall and prevent UAB from finishing in the top five, assuming South Carolina can win one of its last three matches.
The Blazers are 9-6-1 overall and 4-3-1 in Conference USA. They are coming off a 1-0 win over UCF on Friday night. Jerson Monteiro scored the game winner off a Sandy Gbandi free kick. De Oliveira returned to the lineup after missing seven matches with a knee injury and Robles recorded his 11th career shutout in the win. Gbandi leads UAB in scoring with 15 points on five goals and five assists. Maurice Hughes also has five tallies on the year for the Blazers.
Florida International is 7-4-2 overall and 3-1-2 in league play. The Golden Panthers upended defending league champion Memphis, 1-0, Friday night. Carron Williams' cross in the 92nd minute found Judah Hernandez for the sudden victory thriller.
After Sunday's match, UAB has clinched a spot in the 2005 Conference USA Tournament which will be played Nov. 9, 11 and 13 at SMU's Westcott Field. While the quarterfinals were originally scheduled for Nov. 5 at the home sites of the higher four seeds, Hurricane Wilma postponed two matches at UCF and Florida International, rearranging the postseason schedule.
UAB Men's Soccer Game Notes in PDF Format
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