The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Men's Soccer Hosts Furman In NCAA First Round
11/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
NCAA Men's Soccer Championship - First Round
Furman (12-5-3) vs. UAB (11-7-1)
Thursday, Nov. 20 | 5:30 p.m. CT | Birmingham, Ala. - West Campus Field
Match Coverage: Watch Live | Live Stats | Twitter | Tournament Central
Match Notes: UAB
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's soccer team opens its eighth NCAA Championship appearance on Thursday with a first round matchup against Furman at 5:30 p.m. at West Campus Field.
The game will be the fourth NCAA opening-round match the Blazers have hosted in program history, and fifth postseason match overall hosted by the Green and Gold.
The winner of Thursday's contest will advance to play the No. 14 overall seed Washington on Sunday in Seattle.
Live stats and live video (for a fee) will be available for the game and can be accessed at UABSports.com. For in-game Twitter updates, follow along on the UAB men's soccer page at the link above.
Blazers Earn At-Large Bid To NCAA Soccer Championship
For the third time in the last four years, and eighth time overall, the UAB men's soccer team received a bid to the 2014 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament, as announced by NCAA officials on Monday. The Blazers have advanced to the Sweet 16 twice and Elite 8 once and have six NCAA victories in 13 years. UAB's senior class has advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times in their four years on campus.
Scouting The Opposition
The Furman Paladins will be making their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since the 2011 season. Furman is 6-8 all-time and advanced to the quarterfinals in 1999 and the round of 16 in 2002.
The Paladins punched their ticket via an automatic berth after defeating Mercer, 1-0, in the Southern Conference Championship match last Saturday. They have won three straight, all 1-0 decisions, and take a 12-5-3 record into the tournament. Lewis Hawke is the leading scorer for Furman with eight goals. Goalkeeper Sven Lissek has defended well against opponents this season with 11 shutouts and just 12 goals allowed in 19 games.
Series Breakdown
UAB and Furman will be meeting for the sixth time on Thursday as the Blazers have won three-straight after dropping the first two of the series. The two teams last met in 2001 when UAB won a first-round NCAA matchup, 1-0, in Columbia, S.C.
A UAB Win Would
A win by the Blazers Thursday night would push the all-time postseason record to 5-6-1. The winner of the first round game will advance to face the No. 14 overall seed Washington (12-5-1) on Sunday in Seattle.
Blazers Rank 22nd In NCAA In Scoring Offense
UAB has scored three or more goals in seven different games this season. The Blazers rank 22nd in the NCAA in scoring offense at 1.84 goals per game, which is second best in C-USA behind Charlotte (2.22).
The Blazers' 35 goals rank 19th in the NCAA, while the 30 total assists are 35th nationally. UAB is also 25th in total points (100) and 25th in points per game (5.26).
For more information on the UAB men's soccer team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_MensSoccer). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official Twitter account of UAB Athletics (@UABAthletics).
