The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Women's Soccer Faces Final Road Trip
10/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 27, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB women's soccer team will face SMU and Tulsa this weekend in the final road trip of the season. The Blazers are 8-7-1 overall and 4-2-1 in Conference USA. Friday's match against SMU will feature two NCAA Tournament teams battling for position in the conference tournament. The Blazers will conclude the regular season Sunday in Tulsa.
"We've been playing well over the last couple of weeks," said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. "We lost a tough match on the road to Memphis and then in overtime to UCF. We need to continue to play with that same intensity. We've been able to move the ball and have just played good soccer. It's important for us to refine what we are doing this weekend. We want to have good results but the most important thing is to continue to develop and prepare for the conference tournament."
The Blazers are led by sophomores Sally Palmer and Jill Porto. Palmer currently leads C-USA in points and goals. This season, Palmer has recorded 18 points and eight goals in seven matches. Porto has nine goals this year including two hat tricks against UTEP and Marshall.
Junior goalkeeper Katie Forbis continues to climb the saves chart this season and currently ranks 19th in the country in saves with 107. Against UCF, Forbis broke the all-time single season saves record and moved into a second place tie on the all-time list with Jen Braly. Heading into this weekend against SMU and Tulsa, Forbis has 253 career saves.
Friday night's match up with SMU will be the second all-time meeting between the two schools. The Mustangs lead the series after defeating UAB, 6-0, during the 1997 season in Dallas. This will be the first meeting since SMU joined C-USA. Last year, SMU won their fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. SMU was picked preseason to win C-USA.
The Mustangs claimed a share of the top spot in the league standings with a pair of shutout victories on the road last weekend. SMU defeated Marshall, 4-0 before beating East Carolina Sunday, 2-0. They are led by Kimber Bailey, who is tied for second with 13 goals in 16 matches. Bailey ranks second in goals and points this year in C-USA.
Sunday will feature UAB against new C-USA member Tulsa. Tulsa is 8-8-2 this season and 3-4-0 in the conference. They are fighting for one of the final spots in the conference tournament. TU is led by Katie Ward who has nine goals this year. Last year, Tulsa finished 7-10-4 in the WAC and lost to SMU in the WAC Tournament.
The Golden Hurricane split last weekend against Marshall and East Carolina. Friday night, TU dropped a tough decision to ECU, 3-2 but rebounded to beat the Thundering Herd Sunday, 3-0. UAB will face TU for the second-time and the first-time in Oklahoma. The Blazers lost in 1997, 6-3, despite playing in Birmingham.
Following the match Sunday, UAB will travel to Houston for the C-USA Tournament.
