The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Faces Memphis In Nationally-Televised Contest Friday Night
11/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 4, 2010
UAB-Memphis Game Notes
| | Gametracker
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB men's soccer team will play its final regular-season contest in front of a nationally-televised audience when it takes on the Memphis Tigers on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT on Fox Soccer Channel.
UAB enters its final C-USA contest sporting a 10-5-1 overall record and are 4-3 in league play. Four of the Blazers' five losses have come against teams ranked in the nation's top-25: then-No. 2 Virginia (L, 2-1 on Sept. 3), then-No. 6 SMU (L, 3-2 on Sept. 24), then-No. 20 South Carolina (L, 3-2 on Oct. 3) and then-No. 14 Tulsa (L, 1-0 (2ot) on Oct. 23).
The Blazers enter Friday's contest on a hot streak, with only one loss, a double-overtime setback to Tulsa, over their last five matches (3-1-1).
UAB continues to rank as one of the top offensive teams in Conference USA. The Blazers in the top three in several offensive categories, including goals scored (3rd - 34), goals per game (3rd - 2.12) and points (3rd - 96). UAB is also third in the league in assists (28) and assists per game (1.75).
The Blazers' offensive attack is led by preseason all-conference selection Babayele Sodade. The junior forward leads the team in goals (9), points (20), shots (41) and shots on goal (23). Sophomore Kofi Gyawu is second on the team with six goals, including a team-best four game-winning tallies. Senior midfielder Kevin Sawchak ranks third on the team with nine points (3g, 3a), while sophomore Flo Liu continues to lead his squad in assists with six on the campaign.
Defensively, junior goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski owns a goals against average (GAA) of 1.09, which ranks fourth-best in C-USA. He has allowed 15 goals while making 53 saves.
Memphis is coming off an dominating 8-0 victory over Alabama A&M on Wednesday night, which snapped a six-game unbeaten streak. The Tigers improved to 4-11-1 overall (0-6-1 C-USA).
Offensively, the Tigers are led by four players who have scored three goals each on the season. Parker Duncan and Thomas Shannon each have a team-best nine points on three goals and three assists, while midfielder Liam Collins has a team-leading four assists on the year.
Goalkeeper Jordan Leedle has played a majority of the goalkeeping minutes, and owns a 1.53 goals against average (GAA) entering the contest against the Blazers. He collected his third shutout of the year in the victory over the Bulldogs Wednesday night.
Entering the final weekend of play in the conference, UAB is one of four teams (SMU, UCF and South Carolina) to have each clinched a spot in the 2010 C-USA Championship. The Blazers still have a chance of a first round bye and second-place finish in the league. However, UAB would need to win on Friday night, and would also need for UCF (at Tulsa) and South Carolina (at Kentucky) to tie or lose their contests this weekend. Memphis has been eliminated from tournament contention.
The Blazers and Tigers will meet for the 32nd time in series history, with the Tigers owning a 16-15 edge. However, UAB was captured wins in four of the last six matches and 13 of the last 19 times the rivals have met on the pitch.
