The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Clemson
Defense Provides Offense In 2-0 Win At Clemson
9/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
CLEMSON, S.C. - Senior defenders Reed Matte and Mladen Lemez each scored a goal and contributed in the first shutout of the year to lead the No. 24 UAB men's soccer team to a 2-0 win at Clemson on Monday night.
The contest marked the final game of a four-game road swing, which included two games against top-10 teams (No. 3 Charlotte and No. 8 New Mexico). The victory also snapped a two-game losing skid, as the Blazers improve to 3-2-1 on the campaign.
"Clemson has a beautiful field and a great stadium," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "They have a good team but tonight we played extremely well for 90 minutes and I thought we certainly deserved a win. I thought we did a great job of keeping our focus all 90 minutes. If we can play like that from here on out, it will take a good team to be able to beat us."
Junior goalkeeper Raphael Ville recorded his first shutout as a Blazer, making four saves en route to the victory.
UAB wasted no time getting an early lead as Matte, a senior captain and preseason all-conference defender, scored just 5:06 into the contest to stake his team to the early lead. The tally was Matte's first of the season and the third of his standout career - all of which have been game-winners.
With the only goal in the half, UAB has now outscored the opposition by a combined 5-0 in the opening 45 minutes on the season.
UAB continued to attack in the second half and added to its lead at the 60:46 mark. Senior forward Kofi Gyawu set the goal up when he was taken down with a hard foul just outside the Clemson penalty box. Lemez stepped up to take the free kick and hammered a shot into the back of the net to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead.
From there, Ville and the UAB backline kept the Tigers' offense silent to earn the team's first cleansheet of the season.
UAB outshot Clemson, 13-10, while both teams had four shots on goal.
The Blazers will return to the friendly confines of West Campus Field for the first time in nearly a month when they host the annual UAB "Soccer For A Cure" Classic this weekend.
"Our players are excited about not having to travel again," Getman said. "We get to sleep in our own beds and more importantly we will be able to play in front of our home crowd. We are certainly looking forward to this weekend."
This year's "Soccer For A Cure" Classic will begin on Friday, when Memphis takes on Washington at 4:30 p.m., followed by UAB hosting Fairleigh Dickinson in the nightcap at 7 p.m. One lucky UAB student will win a free IPad, which will be announced at halftime of the Blazers-Knights contest.
On Sunday, Sept. 16, Memphis will square off against Fairleigh Dickinson at 11:30 a.m. with UAB and Washington concluding tournament play at 2 p.m.
