The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers-49ers Set To Square Off In NCAA Tournament
11/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 18, 2011
UAB Match Notes 
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's soccer team will host the Charlotte 49ers on Sunday at 7 p.m. in the second round of the 2011 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.
The Blazers, seeded No. 11 overall, received a first-round bye in this year's tournament. UAB will take on its former Conference USA rival Charlotte, who advanced to the second round with a 3-1 win over Furman on Thursday night.
Despite falling to SMU, the No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, in the Conference USA Championship game, the Blazers enter as one of the hotter teams in college soccer, having only suffered one loss over their last 10 matches (8-1-1). UAB boasts and overall record of 13-4-3 and finished with a 6-1-1 record in C-USA play.
Leading the way for the Blazers is first-team all-conference performer in Babayele Sodade, who enters the tournamenet with team highs in goals (13), assists (5), points (31) and shots (50). Sodade, who was the lone Blazer to earn first-team all-conference accolades, also leads the team and Conference USA with eight game-winning goals on the season.
Freshman forward Diego Navarrete, an all-freshman honoree, and junior defender Mladen Lemez, who earned third-team all-conference honors, rank second on the team with four goals each on the year.
Defensively, senior goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski, who garnered second-team all-conference recognition and had a strong case to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors, leads a defense that was tops in the league during the regular season. The Columbus, Ind. native was a four-time C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honoree during the season and leads the league in shutouts (7), saves (90) and save percentage (.833). He also ranks second in goals against average (0.88).
As a team, UAB leads the league in every statistical defensive category, which includes the fewest goals allowed (19), lowest goals against average (0.91), saves (98) and shutouts (7).
Charlotte advanced to the second round of the 2011 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Furman on Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C. The match was knotted at one heading into intermission, but second-half goals from TJ Beaulieu and Rex Jennings propelled the 49ers to victory.
The 49ers (14-4-2) are led by four players who have each scored at least four goals on the year. Freshman forward Guiseppe Gentile sets the pace in the attack, leading the squad with eight goals and 17 points (8g, 1a). Senior Evan James leads the team in assists (6) and is second in points with 14 (4g, 6a), while junior midfielder Donnie Smith has five goals.
Sophomore goalkeeper Klay Davis leads a defense that has only allowed 18 goals in 20 games this season. Davis maintains a 0.86 goals allowed average with 51 saves and seven shutouts.
UAB-Charlotte Series History
UAB and Charlotte are former Conference USA rivals as the 49ers were a founding member of the league back when it first formed in 1995. In 2006, Charlotte left C-USA for the Atlantic 10.
Sunday's match will mark the 25th meeting between the two rivals, with Charlotte holding a slight 13-9-2 advantage. The last time the two teams met on the pitch came on Sept. 10, 2010 with UAB taking a 2-1 overtime victory at West Campus Field. In fact, the Blazers own a solid 7-1-2 record in the last 10 meetings between the two former rivals.
The Blazers own a 5-3-1 record against the 49ers in games played in Birimingham. The two squads have also met three times in postseason play, all coming in the C-USA Tournament, with Charlotte holding a 2-1 edge in such games.
Back In The NCAAs
For the fifth time in the last 13 years, and sixth time overall, the UAB men's soccer team received a bid to the 2011 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament.
The Blazers earned the No. 11 overall seed in the event, which guaranteed a bye into the second round of the 48-team field. UAB will take on Charlotte on Sunday at 7 p.m., which will mark just the third time in program history the Blazers will host a men's soccer NCAA Tournament game.
UAB's NCAA Tournament History
The UAB men's soccer team is making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament - all of which came under head coach Mike Getman.
The Blazers last appeared in the NCAAs during the 2006 campaign, falling to Gardner-Webb in penalty kicks. That was also the last time UAB hosted an NCAA Tournament game.
UAB advanced the farthest during the 1999 NCAA Tournament, when it reached the elite eight before falling to Santa Clara, 3-2.
The Blazers have an all-time mark of 4-5 in the NCAAs, including a 1-1-1 mark at West Campus Field in NCAA Tournament matches.
We Are The Champions!
UAB senior forward Babayele Sodade scored a header off a corner kick with just under two minutes remaining in regulation to lift the men's soccer team to a 2-1 win at Tulsa on Nov. 4 in Tulsa, Okla. The victory, coupled by South Carolina's 2-2 tie vs. Kentucky, gave the Blazers a share of the 2011 Conference USA regular season title - their first since the 1999 campaign.
The Blazers finish the regular season with a 12-3-3 overall mark and a 6-1-1 record in league play. It marked the 16th time in head coach Mike Getman's 20 seasons at UAB that he had led his team to at least 10 wins during a season.
"I am so proud of this team," Getman said. "All season they have fought hard for the full 90 minutes. Tonight they did it again. Now they get to live the rest of their lives as a champion!
Six Blazers Earn All-Conference Honors
UAB senior forward Babayele Sodade was the lone Blazer represented on the Conference USA First Team, which was announced by the league office on Tuesday. Sodade, who earns his first-ever first team honor, headlines a total of six UAB players who were honored on various teams by a vote of the league's head coaches.
In addition to Sodade's recognition, senior goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski and junior defender Reed Matte were named to the second team, while junior defender Mladen Lemez garnered third team honors. Additionally, forward Diego Navarrete and defender Darion Copeland were each selected to the league's all-freshman team.
The six Blazers earning postseason accolades ties for the third-most individual postseason conference awards in a single season in program history. The record is nine individual awards which came in 2001.
Back In The National Rankings
On the strength of capturing a share of the 2011 Conference USA regular season title, the UAB men's soccer team moved up in the national rankings this week. The Blazers are ranked as high as No. 16 in the nation in this week's top-25 polls.
The Blazers are ranked unanimously in each of the four major soccer polls, with the highest ranking of No. 16 in the nation by Soccer Times and Soccer America. UAB is also ranked No. 19 by College Soccer News and No. 20 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Furthermore, the Blazers remain at No. 2 in the NSCAA Midwest Region rankings.
The Blazers have now been ranked in 16 of the last 18 seasons.
Ranked Among Top Teams In RPI
The UAB men's soccer team finished the year ranked No. 11 in the nation according to the RPI rankings, which were released by the NCAA earlier this week. SMU led all C-USA teams with a No. 8 RPI in the nation.
Woszczynski Named C-USA All-Academic
UAB goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski continues to reap rewards from an outstanding 2011 season on the pitch, as well as in the classroom. In addition to earning all-conference honors earlier in the week, the senior co-captain was named to the 2011 C-USA All-Academic team, which was announced on Wednesday.
Woszczynski maintains a 3.41 GPA in mechanical engineering with a business administration minor. He has also been selected to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll in four straight seasons and was twice named as the UAB Student-Athlete of the Week.
UAB Boasts Eight Players of the Week
UAB leads all league teams having captured eight C-USA Player of the Week awards in 2011.
In addition to Carl Woszczynski's honor on Oct. 31, he was named as the league's player of the week for the weeks of Aug. 29, Sept. 5 and Oct. 17. Furthermore, he was selected to the College Soccer News national team of the week on Sept. 6 and Soccer America Team of the Week on Oct. 18.
Sodade was twice tabbed the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 24 and Nov. 7), as well as earning College Soccer News National Player of the Week and a spot on the Soccer America Team of the Week.
Junior defender Mladen Lemez was chosen as the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 20, while also earning a spot on the College Soccer News National Team of the Week and Soccer America National Team of the Week.
Freshman forward Diego Navarrete claimed the team's lone offensive POW honor, as he was chosen as the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for Sept. 11.
300th Win, 600th game
With the 6-1 victory over Oral Roberts on Sept. 9, the UAB men's soccer team recorded its 300th win in program history. Furthermore, the contest against Portland on Sept. 23 marked the 600th game in UAB lore. The Blazers currently have an all-time record of 310-254-48 (.542).
UAB Soccer Best In C-USA
UAB head coach Mike Getman knows a few things about winning games in Conference USA. Since the league began back in 1995, Getman ranks as the conference's all-time winningest coach, racking up an astounding 83 C-USA victories, which is nearly 40 wins better than his closest competition (John Tart of Charlotte with 45 wins). Following the 2011 C-USA regular season, the Blazers' head coach owns an overall conference record of 83-48-13 (.623).
Furthermore, UAB is the winningest league team since the inception of C-USA (1995), with a record of 195-109-28 (.629), which leads all league squads in terms of total wins. Memphis is in second in the league with 119 overall wins over that same time frame.
UAB Hosts 2011 College Cup
UAB will be the host school for the 2011 NCAA D-I Men's Soccer Championship. The event will take place December 9 and 11, 2011 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
It marks the first time UAB has been named as the host school for an NCAA Division I championship in any sport.
Not only will it be the first time the Blazers have hosted a national title game, but it's also the first time the College Cup will be played in the state of Alabama.
UAB will host the event along with the Alabama Sports Foundation.
