The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Clemson (Exh.)
UAB, Clemson Draw 2-2 Tie
8/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 27, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Freshman Two-Boys Gumede scored the equalizer on a nifty long pass from junior Michael Biggs in the 86th minute and UAB held on to a 2-2 tie with ACC power Clemson in men's soccer exhibition action Saturday night at West Campus Field. Senior Jason McLaughlin scored UAB's other goal on a cross from freshman Derek Rios in the 37th minute of play.
"I thought the whole second half, we played very well," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "We had a lot of chances. The goal came off a terrific ball from Michael Biggs, who I thought had a very good game. What a great finish by Two-Boys. Sometimes you can only do one thing with a ball played forward like that and he did just what he needed to, and that's the game."
The Blazers fell behind early as Clemson's speedy forward Dane Richards drove home a double-pass in front from Mark Buchholz and Hermann Trophy candidate Nathan Sturgis in the 19th minute. After McLaughlin's tying goal, Clemson freshman Ryan Roushandel scored off a rebound in front of goalkeeper Jeremy Drake in the 41st to put the Tigers ahead, 2-1.
UAB wasn't without chances, however. Jerson Monteiro had a strike in the first period waived off after a foul was called in front of Tiger keeper Phil Marfuggi. Junior forward Lukasz Kwapisz also had a strike hit the post in the first five minutes of play.
"I thought we created many, many good scoring chances," Getman said. "We had one called back, had one off the post, had a number of other chances - I don't have any question that this team is going to score goals. What we talked to our team about at halftime was that we gave up two goals off of poor defensive mistakes. We should not have given up a goal tonight, but we did because we made mistakes. That's what a good team will do - they punish you for your mistakes. Hopefully, we learn from those and we'll be a little bit more ready for the regular season."
Clemson out-shot UAB, 16-10, which allowed Jeremy Drake and starter A.J. Robles to record a pair of saves each. Freshman net-minder Wes Johnson also had a save in the final 14 minutes of play. Robles went out in the 11th minute after an incidental collision with a Clemson player. Drake notched 64 solid minutes in net, including one diving stop that brought the crowd to its feet.
The contest was UAB's final exhibition tune-up before opening the 2005 season this Friday, Sept. 2, against Rhode Island in the Rams' fall invitational. The Blazers will take on Maine in Sunday's second match of the classic.
UAB-Clemson box score in PDF Format
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