Oct. 8, 2008

Final Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior Derek Rios collected a goal and an assist to lead the UAB men's soccer team to an impressive 4-1 victory over instate foe Alabama A&M on Wednesday night at West Campus Field. The Bulldogs, who entered the game ranked No. 6 in the South Region, fell to 7-4-2 on the season, while the Blazers improve to 4-5-2 on the campaign.

"I thought we played very well against a very good team," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "Alabama A&M is always a quality opponent, but I think this is one of the best teams they have had in a long time. I am really pleased with our performance and hopefully this will give us some confidence going into an important stretch of league games."

The Blazers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Rios connected on his third goal of the season just 3:28 into the match. Sophomore Michal Mravec was credited with the assist, as he found Rios open at the top of the 18-yard box. With a defender on his back, Rios made a touch and drilled a shot from 20-yards out into the left side of the goal to give his team an early one-goal advantage.

UAB's offensive pressure would continue and finally paid off just under 20 minutes later. Senior Frank Brown took the ball down the right side of the field and found Rios streaking towards the penalty box. Rios then took the ball to the end line where he rolled a pass to sophomore Kevin Sawchak. The Atlanta, Ga. native broke free from his defender and hit a shot off the keeper and into the net for a 2-0 UAB lead.

The trend continued into the second half as the Blazers continued the offensive onslaught. UAB scored its third goal of the game at the 58:46 mark when the Blazers were awarded with a penalty kick. Junior Two-Boys Gumede stepped up to take the kick, but the Bulldogs' goalkeeper made the initial save. However, since the ball was touched, it became live and Gumede would follow his own rebound by sticking the ball into the left side of the net for an insurmountable three-goal lead.

Just under three minutes later, the Blazers scored their fourth and final goal of the night. Junior Dean Sorrell tallied his first career goal when he struck a free kick that deflected off the wall and into the back of the net.

The Bulldogs would finally break through with 1:07 remaining in the contest when MfanaFuthi Bhembe scored his NCAA Division I-leading 11th goal of the campaign to result in the final score.

Junior goalkeeper Wes Johnson played strong in the net for UAB, making four saves, before giving way to redshirt freshman Tucker Stone with 13:44 remaining. Combined, the two keepers collected six saves on the night. The Bulldogs ended up outshooting UAB, 21-12, in the contest. However, the Blazers had eight shots on frame compared to only seven shots on goal by Alabama A&M.

"We played well tonight, but we have played this well all season," Getman said. "The difference was the ball went in the net this game. If we can keep finishing at this rate, we can beat a lot of good teams."

The Blazers will next play on Saturday, Oct. 11, at C-USA leading UCF. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) and can be followed live on Gametracker, by logging onto the UAB athletics website (uabsports.com).