The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulsa
Strong First Half Powers Tulsa Past UAB, 2-1
10/16/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 16, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Tulsa scored a pair of first half goals, then withstood a furious UAB rally, as the Golden Hurricane defeated the Blazers, 2-1, on Tuesday night at West Campus Field.
With the loss, the Blazers fall to 7-5-2 (2-3 C-USA) on the season, while Tulsa improves to 9-4-1 and 3-1-1 in Conference USA play.
"I thought their gameplan was better than ours in the first half," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "They got the kind of opportunities they wanted, even though we outshot them in the half. We were able to make some adjustments at halftime and I thought we limited their chances in the second half. We generated 17 shots, hit the post a couple times and did some good things, but you can't give up two goals to a top-25 team and think you will win."
The Golden Hurricane, who came into the match ranked No. 30 in the nation, wasted no time getting on the board, as they took a 1-0 lead just three minutes into the contest. The goal was set up by Tulsa's Stephen Roberson, who took the ball down the sideline and blistered a low cross into the goal area. Kyle Cumings then one-timed a shot from six yards out into the right side to give the visitor's a one-goal lead at the 2:58 mark.
Tulsa would extend its lead in the 30th minute as Cristian Mata scored his league-leading 11th goal of the year off an assist from Tony Rocha. Mata was able to coral a long pass from his teammate and slip a shot just underneath goalkeeper Raphael Ville and into the back of the net.
UAB had a couple solid chances to cut into the Tulsa lead in the second half. Senior Reed Matte had a great opportunity in the 68th minute when his shot from 30 yards away looked as if it had beaten the Tulsa goalkeeper, but it was denied by the crossbar, keeping the Blazers off the scoreboard.
The Blazers were finally able to break through at the 75:30 mark on a goal by senior Kofi Gyawu. Matte took a free kick which sophomore Diego Navarette gathered and tapped toward the net. Tulsa goalkeeper Mark Pais made the initial save, which was deflected right to the feet of Gyawu, who deposited the ball into an empty net to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
UAB looked as if it had pulled even just two minutes later when Ian Svantesson was able to find the back of the net on a near identical play, but the tally was disallowed due to an offsides call.
The Blazers continued to push and had another couple of shots, but could not find the equalizer.
Pais played strong in the net for the Golden Hurricane, making six saves on the night. Ville finished with a pair of saves en route to the loss.
UAB outshot Tulsa, 17-10, for the match, including a 9-4 edge in the first half, and a 10-3 margin in corner kicks.
The Blazers will next be in action when they host Marshall on Saturday at 2 p.m. The contest will mark the final home match of the 2012 regular season, as the UAB senior class (Kofi Gyawu, Mladen Lemez, Reed Matte and Milan Milinkovic) will be honored prior to kickoff.
"Senior Day is always a special day," Getman said. "You get a chance to say thank you to a group of guys who have given their heart and soul to this program. It's a little bittersweet. I enjoy seeing them get recognized but you do hate the thought that they are moving on. Hopefully we can extend their season with us as long as possible."
Fans who purchase a ticket to the UAB-Marshall match will be able to attend the UAB-East Carolina football game for free by showing the ticket stub from the soccer game at the Legion Field ticket window.
