The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Women's Soccer Wins Fifth Straight; Beats Cincinnati 2-0
9/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 26, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB women's soccer team picked up its fifth-consecutive victory on Friday as the Blazers improved to 3-0 in Conference USA play by registering a 2-0 shutout win over the Cincinnati Bearcats.
With the victory, UAB (7-2) won its fifth-straight match for the first time since 1998 and opened conference play with a 3-0 record for the first time since the 1999 campaign.
"I think that our early goals were the key for us," said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. "We were able to step out and develop a good rhythm at the beginning of the game and we accomplished our goals which were to develop a good rhythm and to keep them from having a rhythm. I thought that we did a really nice job of doing both of those things tonight."
UAB jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in Friday's contest as senior Jill Knottek rifled a hooking shot that neatly found the upper right-hand corner of the net. With the backbreaking goal at only 6:49 into the contest, Knottek took sole possession of the team's lead in goals (5), points (12) and game-winning goals (3).
Knottek, the Blazers' reigning C-USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week, continued her stellar league play on Friday by scoring her third goal in three matches against conference opponents.
The Blazers added their second goal of the contest with exactly 16:00 remaining in the first half of play. On the score, UAB's Liz Bosscher attacked the left side of the Cincinnati defense and blasted a shot past the outstretched arms of the diving Bearcat goalkeeper Sherry Slye.
The goal, Bosscher's first of the season, gave the Blazers their sixth, two-goal scoring performance of the 2003 campaign. UAB owns an impressive 6-0 record when it notches at least two goals.
"I'm really proud of how our team played tonight," Harbin said. "We overcame some adversity with injuries, but we had some people do a great job of filling in for us. I also have to give a lot of credit to Cincinnat. They never stopped fighting and Coach (Meridy) Glenn has done a great job with them."
Tara Kidwell, the Blazers' junior from Lilburn, Ga., picked up assists on both UAB goals on Friday and upped her total on the season to three.
UAB's freshman goalkeeper, Katie Forbis, improved to 5-0 as a started and recorded her second shutout of the season. The Memphis, Tenn. native has played well in goal for the Blazers and possesses an impressive 0.40 goals against average.
The UAB women's soccer team will next be in action on Sunday, Sept. 28, as the Blazers face off against the DePaul Blue Demons at 2 p.m. at West Campus Field. The UAB Marketing Department has tabbed Sunday's critical C-USA matchup as "YMCA Day" where all fans can get into the game free as long as they present a current YMCA membership card.
--- agate to follow ---
UAB (7-2, 3-0) def. Cincinnati (3-5-1, 1-2), 2-0
UC 0 0 - 0 UAB 2 0 - 2
Scoring: UAB, Jill Knottek (5) 6:49 (assist Tara Kidwell), Liz Bosscher (1) 29:00 (assist Kidwell). Saves: Katie Forbis (UAB) 2, 0 goals allowed; Sherry Slye (UC) 11, 2 goals allowed. Cautions: None
