The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
2004 UAB Women's Soccer Season Recap: A Dream Season
12/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Dec. 6, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Winning a championship is the goal of any team today in collegiate athletics, but building a program which can continuously win championships is an even greater accomplishment.
The UAB women's soccer program took another step in that direction in 2004, as the Blazers won the Conference USA Tournament for the first time and subsequently earned their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in school history. UAB finished with a school-best record of 16-6-1 and posted an 8-2 mark in conference play for the second-straight season.
"At the collegiate level, I always hope that success is defined in a number of ways; in the classroom, on the field and in the personal development of our individual players," said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. "Using all of those standards, it would be hard to pick out the best year. There have been quite a few. Fortunately, I've had the privilege working with and coaching some amazing people over the last 14 years. This year, with another Academic All-America selection, all seven seniors on track to graduate on time, a Conference USA Tournament Championship and a second round NCAA appearance, I'd certainly consider it to be among the best."
The Blazers, who had gone 13-5-1 in 2003 en route to their first C-USA regular-season title, were a hungry and determined team entering this past season after the Blazers were left out of the 2003 NCAA Tournament. That push for success translated into the best season in school history and the hope that the next season will be even better.
UAB opened the campaign with a 6-2 win over Jacksonville State on Aug. 27 in Birmingham as senior forward Tara Kidwell, a preseason First-Team All-C-USA selection, notched her first-career hat trick. After a tough 3-1 loss at nationally-ranked Auburn two days later, the Blazers returned home to play host to the annual UAB Nike Classic. UAB and UCF battled to a 1-1 double-overtime tie in the driving rain at West Campus Field on Sept. 3 on day one of the tournament. The Blazers edged Vanderbilt, 2-1, on Sept. 5 to close the tournament.
The Blazers then made their longest road trip in school history the next weekend as UAB traveled to Portland, Ore., for the prestigious Portland Nike Tournament to face a pair of national powers in the University of Portland and the University of Washington. UAB fell to the Huskies by a score of 1-0 in its first game and then dropped a 3-0 decision to host and eventual tournament champion Portland on Sept. 12.
UAB's game at Alabama originally scheduled for Sept. 17 was moved to Sept. 21 due to effects from Hurricane Ivan. That night the Blazers played as solid as they had all season and picked up a 3-1 victory over the Crimson Tide even their record at 3-3-1. Three days later UAB opened conference play at home with a 2-0 shutout over Cincinnati to get over the .500 mark, but fell to 4-4-1 with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Louisville two days later.
The Blazers would rebound from their 4-4-1 start to win 12 of their final 14 matches, including going 8-1 down the stretch in the regular season. Following the 1-0 loss to Louisville, UAB won four straight, allowing only two goals, and then rebounded from a 4-1 loss to Saint Louis by out-scoring its next four opponents, 19-3. UAB wound up shutting out eight teams during the season, including six against C-USA opponents.
UAB earned the No. 2 seed in the C-USA Tournament and opened with a 4-1 win over Memphis on Nov. 3 in St. Louis, Mo. The following day the Blazers took care of Marquette, 2-0, to advance to the tournament championship game. UAB clinched its first appearance in the title game and handed Marquette its first loss in semifinal play in tournament history, as the Golden Eagles had entered the match with a perfect 8-0 record all-time.
Regular-season champion and tournament host Saint Louis advanced to the title game to meet UAB, marking the first time in tournament history that the top two seeds were paired in the final. Senior forward Tara Kidwell, the 2004 C-USA Offensive Player of the Year, headed in a shot midway through the second half to break a 1-1 tie and send the Blazers to a thrilling 2-1 win over the Billikens in front of a stunned crowd at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.
The Blazers earned their first C-USA tournament title and also secured a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. UAB also enacted revenge upon the 4-1 loss to Saint Louis earlier in the season. Jenny Rynders was named the tournament's Offensive MVP while Briana McCarty claimed Defensive MVP honors. Liz Bosscher and Pam Cooney also made the all-tournament team.
UAB traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 12 against Wake Forest. The Blazers watched host and No. 11 national seed Tennessee shutout Furman, 2-0, in the first match that evening, and then came out and tried to duplicate the Volunteers' performance. The Blazers scored both of their goals in the first 10 minutes of the match and hung on for a historic 2-0 win over the Demon Deacons on a bitterly cold, rainy night.
The Blazers entered their match versus Tennessee on Nov. 14 full of confidence and riding an eight-game winning streak. The Lady Vols took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but UAB did not panic. The Blazers came alive in the second period, out-shooting the Lady Vols by a count of 9-5 after being out-shot 11-5 in the first half. Kidwell seemed to create a golden scoring chance for her team late in the match as she streaked down the sideline alone and was pulled down from behind inside the box by a UT defender. A foul and an ensuing penalty kick seemed imminent, but no such call or kick were awarded, thus UAB's best opportunity to score never developed.
A flurry of shots attempted by the Blazers sailed either high or wide as the final minutes ticked away and in the end the Vols had escaped with a hard-fought 1-0 win to move on to the Sweet 16. UAB tasted defeat for the first time since the 4-1 loss to Saint Louis on Oct. 15 in Birmingham, and saw its school-best eight-game winning streak end.
Kidwell and McCarty were each named to the All-C-USA first team while Rynders made the second team, and Cooney earned third-team honors. Kidwell, McCarty, and Rynders all represented UAB on the NSCAA Southeast Regional Team.
McCarty also excelled in the classroom. The senior defender was named to the 2004 CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Team and then made the 2004 ESPN Academic All-America Team, presented by CoSIDA.
"Over the course of the year, everyone on this team stepped up in one way or another," said Harbin. "Each time a unique need presented itself or there was a problem that needed solving, there was someone there to get it done. If one person was struggling, someone else would take up the slack. In the end, they all stepped up as a unit. That collective commitment to achieving our goals was what allowed us to be successful."
