The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina*
McLaughlin Leads UAB Barrage In 4-0 Rout Of ECU
10/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 7, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior midfielder Jason McLaughlin notched his first career multi-goal game, scoring the first two of UAB's four goals on the night as the Blazers beat East Carolina 4-0 in Conference USA play at West Campus Field. Maurice Hughes had a pair of assists as Jerson Monteiro and Shane Elsner also scored for UAB (6-4-1).
The win stopped a four match winless streak for the Blazers, who had lost three straight before a 2-2 tie against No. 17 Tulsa last weekend. A.J. Robles and Jeremy Drake combined for the shutout, UAB's third of the season. East Carolina fell to 0-8-1 on the year.
"We played eight of our first 10 matches on the road," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "We were excited to return home. I thought our team played with a lot of energy and played very well."
McLaughlin struck early when he and Hughes combined to take a deflection of ECU's back line in the fourth minute. A similar give-and-go developed between McLaughlin and Monteiro in the 28th minute. McLaughlin found the left pocked on the play to give UAB a 2-0 lead. The Blazers went up 3-0 in the 39th minute when Derrick Radcliffe's lob found Shane Elsner for a strike past ECU keeper Chris Hicks. Monteiro's header off a nifty Hughes cross in the 59th finished off the scoring.
"Jason certainly had a good night with two goals," Getman said. "But I think our team came out with an offensive mindset from the start. We were very offensive minded and that showed in our aggressiveness tonight."
The Blazers out-shot the Pirates 23-8 with a 12-6 advantage in shots on goal. Matt Kowaleski and Matt Gipe each had solid chances for ECU, but Robles and Drake held them at bay. Robles notched four saves on the evening while Drake had a diving stop on a Kowaleski chance with under 20 minutes to play. Hicks came up with eight saves on the evening for ECU.
"When you possess the ball and create offensive chances, your defense has less work to do," Getman said. "While we did a good job of fending off their advances and stopping the chances they got, our offensive pressure really created the chance to shut them out."
With the win, UAB moves into a five-way tie for second place in Conference USA with four points. SMU leads the way with an unblemished 3-0-0 record in league play. UAB, UCF, Florida International, South Carolina and Kentucky all have a win and a tie in league play and are knotted behind the Mustangs.
UAB has an opportunity to surge past one of those it is tied with on Sunday when it hosts affiliate C-USA men's soccer member South Carolina at 1 p.m. CT at West Campus Field. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for children. UAB students are admitted free with a valid UAB I.D. Card.
