The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Wright State
Blazers Earn Comeback Victory Over Wright State, 3-2
9/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 3, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In the final day of the 2006 UAB Classic, the Blazers earned their second victory of the season by downing Wright State, 3-2. UAB, who finished with a 0-0 tie against Mercer on Friday evening, finished second overall in the four-team tournament.
The battle between UAB and Wright State was an offensive, emotion-filled game. The Blazers scored the first goal of the game when sophomore Dejan Jakovic knocked in his first goal of the season off of an assist from senior Jerson Monteiro in the 28th minute of the first half.
Wright State responded less than one minute later when Josh Grossman tied the game on a penalty kick for the Raiders. The game did not remain tied for long as Michael Conley scored Wright State's second goal of the game in the 30th minute to put the Raiders ahead, 2-1.
After halftime, the Blazers kicked it into high gear and dominated much of the second half of play. Junior forward Shane Elsner tied the game at two-all for the Blazers as he got his first goal of the year, unassisted, in the 71st minute of the game.
The game remained tied at two apiece for about 10 minutes as both teams were scrapping to gain the advantage. Finally, with nine minutes left to play in the match, senior Lukasz Kwapisz knocked in a goal with an assist from senior Derick Radcliffe to avoid overtime and give UAB the victory, 3-2.
Overall, UAB led the Raiders in total shots, 13-10. Wright State had the shot advantage at halftime, 7-5, but the Blazers controlled the second half and out-shot the Raiders, 8-3. UAB also led in the shots-on-goal category, recording 10 shots-on-goal compared to Wright State's eight.
In earlier action on Sunday, Mercer topped Birmingham-Southern, 3-0, in the first match of the day.
The Mercer Bears was named the tournament champion after tying UAB, 0-0, on Friday and getting a 3-0 win over the Panthers of Birmingham-Southern on Sunday. UAB earned second place in their home tournament, while Wright State finished third and Birmingham-Southern was fourth.
In addition, an all-tournament team was selected at the conclusion of the final game on Sunday. Those named to the all-tournament squad include:
Richard Perdomo (Mercer)
Shane DuBay (Mercer)
Vicente Arze (Mercer)
Omar Liendo (Mercer)
Dejan Jakovic (UAB)
Shane Elsner (UAB)
Lukasz Kwapisz (UAB)
Two-Boys Gumede (UAB)
Braden Fleak (Wright State)
Jonah Longino (Wright State)
Jonah Baskin (Wright State)
The UAB men's soccer team will be back in action on Friday, September 8 as they compete in the UNC Greensboro Classic. The Blazers next home game will be Saturday, September 23 as they host C-USA foe Marshall in a 2 p.m. contest at West Campus Field.
