The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Marshall
Men's Soccer Defeats Marshall In Senior Day Dramatics
10/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 20, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB redshirt freshman Karl Chester scored a goal with 40 seconds remaining in regulation to defeat Marshall, 2-1, in Conference USA action on Saturday at West Campus Field.
The contest marked the final regular-season home game for four UAB seniors: Kofi Gyawu, Mladen Lemez, Reed Matte and Milan Milinkovic.
Chester's goal came just when it seemed the game was heading into overtime. The tally was assisted by junior Chase Wickham, who took the ball into the right side of the box and sent a low cross to Chester. The Kathleen, Ga. native then drilled the ball into the back of the net to put the Blazers up 2-1. The goal marks Chester's third tally of the season and first career game-winner.
"We've reached the time in the season where we have to win games," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "Today, it wasn't about playing pretty or being the better team, it was about finding a way to win. I thought in the first half of the game that we played really well, but made some mistakes and gave them a goal. Second half, we didn't play nearly as well, but we played really hard and found a way to win.
"Karl's been a little snake-bit lately," Getman said. "He's played really well and he's worked really hard, but he hasn't had a lot of goals these last few games, and that's what he does best. Today, he had to wait 89 minutes to get the right chance, but it was a good goal and a very important goal."
Things didn't look good for the Blazers after the opening 45 minutes. Marshall struck just over five minutes into the contest when Jahvon Allison hit a shot from the middle of the field approximately 25 yards out which sailed into the top right corner to give the Herd an early one-goal lead.
However, UAB equalized in the 58th minute when, after a scramble in the box, the Blazers were fouled and senior Mladen Lemez hit a successful penalty kick past Marshall keeper Daniel Withrow. The goal marks Lemez's team-leading sixth of the season.
The Blazers outshot the Thundering Herd, 14-8, for the contest, including an impressive 11-2 shots-on-goal advantage.
UAB will play its final two regular season contests away from home, beginning with a contest on Oct. 27 at UCF. The match is set to kick off at 6 p.m. CT.
