Oct. 12, 2008

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB women's soccer team picked up its second straight win with a 4-1 victory over Conference USA foe Houston on Sunday afternoon at West Campus Field.

The Blazers improve their record to 5-9 overall and 3-3 in conference games. Houston falls to 4-8-1 overall and 0-5-1 in the league.

UAB struck early when freshman forward Laura McCalla scored her fifth goal of the season in the eighth minute of the game, with the assist by sophomore midfielder Marie Yempuku.

The Blazers extended their lead to 2-0 in the 35th minute of the contest when freshman midfielder Carolyn Polcari converted on a penalty kick. The goal was her third of the year.

Houston's Maegan Kiphart headed in a goal in the 42nd minute off a free kick by Jessica Rathweg to make the score 2-1 in favor of UAB at the half.

The Blazers took control in the second half with back-to-back goals by freshman forward Tiffini Turpin. In the 61st minute, Turpin booted in her fifth goal of the season to give UAB a 3-1 lead. She followed that with a penalty kick that found the back of the net in the 72nd minute to secure the 4-1 win for UAB. Turpin now leads all Blazers with six goals this year.

"We're starting to click and bring it together as a team," said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. "We're at a point now where the team is coming together and they are understanding how each other plays.

"I thought we responded well in the second half today. It could have been a little bit of a let down with Houston scoring that goal before halftime. But, we were able to regroup at halftime and decide what we wanted to do.

"I thought our second half was significantly better than the first half. We played with a much quicker speed of play. The finishing was better as well. We were able to play a little bit sharper than we had early in the game and I was pleased with it as a full group effort."

UAB dominated in shots, 26-3, over the Cougars. The Blazers also had 15 shots on goal, compared to just two for Houston.

Turpin and junior forward Danya Barsalona led UAB in shots with five each. Turpin had three shots on goal, while Barsalona recorded two. McCalla, Yempuku and senior midfielder Caitlin Marple added three shots each to the Blazers' total.

Kiphart, Stephanie Derieg and Ryan Bruz had one shot apiece for Houston. Kiphart and Derieg had on shot on goal each for the Cougars.

Sophomore Kate Blankenship earned the win in goal for the Blazers, allowing one goal and tallying one save on the day. Goalkeeper Shelby Scott received the loss for Houston, nabbing 11 saves and giving up four goals.

"We've been trying a lot of different things this season," said Polcari. "We have finally found something that works really well for us. This is the style of play that we like and it's a good fit for us.

"We're defending better now, and at the same time, we are attacking quickly. We're getting a lot of scoring opportunities."

The Blazers will return to action on Friday when they travel to Tulsa, Okla. to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in a C-USA matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at the Hurricane Soccer Stadium.