The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
UTEP
UAB Downs UTEP In Penalty Kicks, Advances To Semis
11/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 4, 2009
DALLAS - UAB came up big on penalty kicks in the first match of the 2009 C-USA Women's Soccer Championship, held at SMU's Westcott Field on a mild and clear night, as the Blazers advanced to Friday's semifinals.
After the Blazers and UTEP played through regulation and two overtimes with a 1-1 tie on the board, the match went to penalty kicks. UAB's Tiffini Turpin, Laura McCalla and Marie Yempuku all converted on their kicks, while junior goalkeeper Kate Blankenship made three big stops. Blankenship also made six saves in the match.
"We feel like we play a very different style than UTEP," UAB head coach Paul Harbin said. "UTEP is very good at what they do and we were playing into their direct style in the first half. In the second half, we worked to possess more and were much more successful in playing off our strengths. When it came to penalty kicks, I felt really good about having Kate (Blankenship) in there."
C-USA Freshman of the Year Skye Schultz put the Miners up early as she scored her eighth goal of the season in the 42nd minute and the Miners held a 1-0 lead at the break.
The Blazers tied it up five and a half minutes into the second half when UAB sophomore Carolyn Polcari scored an unassisted goal off a shot from just outside the 18-yard box.
Polcari had not scored a goal but had a team-leading four assists entering the Blazers' final regular season contest at Memphis on Oct. 29. However, the Richardson, Texas native scored both goals, including the game-winner just over four minutes into the first overtime, in the 2-1 win at Memphis. With the goal tonight, Polcari has now scored UAB's last three goals.
The last penalty kick situation in C-USA Championship history was in the 2006 tournament, which was also held at SMU's Westcott Field. Coincidentally, it also involved UAB, who advanced to the championship match on PKs after playing Memphis to a scoreless tie. The Blazers went on to win the tournament title that year.
UAB will play top-seeded UCF in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 6, at 5 p.m. CT. The contest can be followed live by logging onto conferenceusa.com.
