The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Soccer Ranked No. 3 In The Nation
9/29/2003 12:00:00β―AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 29, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB men's soccer team (6-0-2, 2-0 C-USA) is ranked third in the nation in the most recent National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll, announced on Monday. The No. 3 national ranking is the highest a UAB varsity sport has ever been ranked in school history. The men's soccer team's highest ranking entering this season was No. 4, which was achieved in 2000.
"This is certainly a great honor and I am happy to see that other coaches have this kind of respect for our program," UAB men's soccer coach Mike Getman said. "We are all happy with this ranking, but we still have a long way to go this season. We have a lot of games yet to be played and we just have to continue playing hard and everything will take care of itself."
The NSCAA has also ranked the Blazers as the top team in the South Region.
In addition, the Blazers are ranked fifth in the nation in the latest College Soccer News poll. Soccer America and Soccer Times latest polls were not available and will be made known to the public on Tuesday.
Last week, UAB defeated Conference USA rival Marquette, 3-2, in front of 1,227 people on West Campus Field. Leandro de Oliveira scored the game-winning goal just 18 seconds into the second half, and added an assist. It marked the second consecutive week the Bryan, Texas native has scored a game-winner against a C-USA team. On Sept. 21, de Oliveira hit the game-winner with just under three minutes remaining at East Carolina.
The Blazers' 6-0-2 start marks the best start to a season in school history, eclipsing the previous mark of 4-0 set on three occasions, the last coming with a 4-0 record to start the 2001 campaign. In fact, UAB has opened the season with five shutouts through its first eight contests. UAB began a season without allowing a goal through its first four games, tying a school record.
UAB will continue play this week with two contests. The Blazers will first step outside play in C-USA when they face intra-city rival Birmingham-Southern on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. CT at the BSC Soccer Complex. UAB will then return to conference play when they travel to Tampa, Fla., to take on USF on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m. CT.
