Aug. 22, 2008

Final Stats

CLEMSON, S.C. - The UAB women's soccer team opened its 2008 regular season schedule Friday evening with a 1-0 loss to Clemson at Riggs Field. The game served as the season opener for both teams.

"We did a lot of things well tonight," said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. "Clemson is a good team and they took advantage of a mistake we made in the back and got the win."

Clemson got on the board first when Tara Cort put the ball in the back of the net, with an assist from Molly Franklin, in the 27th minute to make the score 1-0 in favor of the Tigers entering halftime.

"The first five minutes of the game we struggled a little bit," said Harbin. "After that, we did pretty well. We were well organized defensively and we were composed on the attack.

"Clemson did a good job of winning the 50-50 battles and they were beating us in the air the first half."

The Blazers and Tigers battled in the second half but neither team could finish and score. Clemson's lone goal in the first half proved enough to give the Tigers the 1-0 win over UAB.

"We were very good the second half," said Harbin. "We had a tremendous amount of dangerous chances. We had the ball inside the six on multiple occasions and just couldn't get the shot off.

"This gives us a good base for where we are. We're a young team and we are still learning. We did a lot of good things tonight, but at the end of the day, we need to finish and win."

UAB led in shots, 10-9, over the Tigers. However, Clemson nabbed seven shots on goal compared to four for the Blazers.

Freshman Carolyn Polcari paced UAB in shots with four, including two shots on goal. Juniors Allison Auchter and Ayana Russell contributed two shots each, while senior Nadine Liverpool and junior Danya Barsalona had one shot apiece.

"I was a little nervous with this being my first college regular-season game tonight," said Polcari. "I got some good shots off. The three of us in the midfield worked well together tonight and we were in the right place and the right time to make some plays.

"Unfortunately, we didn't capitalize on those chances that we had. We are going to have to get better at finishing."

Cort was Clemson's leader in shots with three, including two shots on goal. Franklin and Julie Bolt had two shots each for the Tigers and Ashlynne Bass and Molly Johnson added one shot each.

Paula Pritzen earned the win in goal for Clemson. Pritzen tallied two saves on the night.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kate Blankenship received the loss for UAB, recording six saves and allowing one goal in 90 minutes.

UAB will be back in action on Sunday when they travel to Auburn, Ala. to take on the Auburn Tigers. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT at the Auburn Soccer Complex.

"The thing we need to go back and work on before Sunday is putting the ball in the back of the net," said sophomore midfielder Marie Yempuku. "We possessed the ball well today, but that's not enough. We need to be able to finish and win games to be successful."