The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Auburn - Montgomery (Exhibition)
Men's Soccer Falls In Final Exhibition Game, 2-1
8/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 25, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- Auburn-Montgomery used goals by Sigurdur Thorsteinsson and Damien Giminez to hand UAB a 2-1 loss in its final exhibition game of the preseason here Sunday. The Blazers had several good scoring chances toward the end of the game, however, they were unable to capitalize.
"We got beat today because they were the better team," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "Coming into this season, we wanted to play against quality competition and Auburn-Montgomery certainly is a good team. I'm not happy with the results, but I think our guys learned a lot."
The physical match between the two in-state rivals featured a combined 40 fouls, seven yellow card warnings - two of which were given to UAB players - and two red cards.
"There were some physical moments between our two teams," Getman said. "I think it was a little more physical than what an exhibition game needs to be. They are a good team and they play a unique formation that's hard to adjust to. I thought we did a better job in the second half after we were able to talk about it a little."
The Senators opened the scoring when Thorsteinsson connected on a penalty kick in the 20th minute to give AUM the early one-goal lead.
UAB was able to strike back at the 28:38 mark as Rogerio Oliveira found a wide-open Marin Pusek at the top of the 18-yard box. Pusek then turned towards the goal and fired a shot at the lower right corner just past outstretched AUM goalkeeper James Van Dyne to even things at one apiece.
However, the Senators would answer back just 18 seconds later when Giminez beat UAB goalkeeper Clint Baumstark and scored on an empty-net to give the lead right back to the Senators.
Both teams had several good scoring opportunities in the second half. AUM's Masego Ntshingane headed a shot of the crossbar in the 70th minute that would have put the game out of reach. UAB's Mikey Spitzer had a great opportunity in the closing minutes when he headed a ball from the six-yard box towards the upper right corner of the net. However, Van Dyne was again there to punch the ball over the top of the crossbar and away from danger.
The Blazers will begin regular season play when they travel to Irvine, Calif. to compete in the UC-Irvine Tournament. UAB will open tournament play against host UC-Irvine on Saturday, August 31 at 7 p.m.
