The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
South Alabama
Women's Soccer Beats South Alabama, 3-2
9/8/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sep 8, 2013
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB women’s soccer defeated South Alabama, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon at West Campus Field. With today’s victory, the Blazers now sport a 5-1-0 record after six matches, its best start to a season since 2009 when the squad was undefeated and untied following its first six games.
“The first half was great,” head coach Harold Warren commented. “We dominated the first half. We kept possession, created a lot of opportunities. I would have liked to have a couple more. We were against a good team. It was everything we could have asked for in the first half. The only thing is we gave up a bad goal. All in all, the play was good in the first half.”
As Warren stated, the Green and Gold came out firing, tallying two goals in the first 16 minutes of the match. Freshman Kimberly Fincher was the first Blazer to put one on the board. Sophomore Ashley Naumoff sent a spectacular pass in from midfield to Fincher, who corralled the pass then finished the play to give the host team a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.
Not even three minutes later, senior Amy Harrison fired a ball from the top of the box into the lower left side of the goal, giving UAB a 2-0 advantage. Harrison’s goal was her first of the season.
Sophomore Paige Hanks continued the scoring streak for the Blazers, registering a goal in the 29th minute. Hanks buried a shot from the top of the box to give the team a 3-0 lead.
South Alabama would cut into the Green and Gold’s lead right before halftime. The Jaguars’ Jordan Duncan emerged from a scramble inside the UAB box with the ball and gently placed it past Angelica Jimenez, making the score 3-1 in the 39th minute.
Out of the break, South Alabama carried the momentum from their late-first half tally. The Jaguars recorded a goal in the 60th minute, off a Lauren Allison breakaway. From there, the Blazers kept the visitors in check. Despite being outshot 9-3 in the final frame, UAB held on and registered its fifth victory of 2013.
“I don’t care if we are in Alaska, I don’t care where we are at, a win is a win,” Warren added. “But, at home it’s very good because this is our home. We are supposed to protect this field. In the first game we got outplayed by a very good Ole Miss team, so the girls wanted to win. They don’t want to lose at home.”
For the next five matches, the team will hit the road. UAB will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 13 when they face Coastal Carolina at 6 p.m. CT.
For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account: @UABathletics. For women's soccer news, follow @UABWomensSoccer.
