The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Women's Soccer 2006 Season Wrap-Up
11/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 29, 2006
Postseason Notes
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Conference USA tournament championship, a trip to the NCAA Women's College Cup and multiple individual honors highlighted UAB's 2006 women's soccer season that saw the Blazers capture their third conference title in four years.
After narrowly making it into the C-USA tournament with a regular-season league mark of 4-5, UAB took its seventh-seed and ran through the conference tournament, beginning with a 2-1 double-overtime victory over UCF in the first round. The Blazers met up with third-seeded Memphis in the semi-finals, where UAB outdid the Tigers in penalty kick, 4-3, to advance to the championship game.
The Blazers beat Colorado College, who was the fifth seed in the tournament, 3-2 to capture the C-USA Tournament championship and receive an automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Women's College Cup.
In the first round of the NCAA tournament, UAB was placed in the Knoxville, Tenn. region and was paired against the University of Tennessee. The Blazers fell to the 23rd-ranked Lady Vols, 4-0, to end UAB's postseason run.
Other highlights of the season included hosting the 2006 UAB Nike Classic in early September. The annual event featured some of the nation's top programs, including UAB, Duke, Kansas and Alabama.
The Blazers finished third in UAB Nike Classic, after falling to then-No. 12 Duke, 2-0, on day one, then rebounding and earning a double-overtime win over in-state rival Alabama, 1-0.
The Blazers (8-12-1) finished the season in style, which was a nice way to send out the team's six seniors. Katie Forbis, Julie McFarlane, Jennifer Williams, Philo Mbong, Laura Richards and Leigh Burton concluded their collegiate career with a conference title and a trip to the prestigious NCAA tournament.
UAB Soccer Surpasses 110 Wins
The UAB women's soccer program surpassed the 110-win mark with three victories at the Conference USA tournament. The Blazers, along with head coach Paul Harbin, both have 111 wins under their belts during the program's 11-year history. In total, UAB has a program record of 111-98-12.
Harbin is also close to yet another milestone in his coaching career. During his 15 years as a head coach, Harbin has an overall record of 148-124-14, just two wins shy of the 150-win mark.
Palmer, Axon Earn All-Conference Accolades
A pair of UAB women's soccer players picked up All-Conference USA honors, as junior Sally Palmer and freshman Rachael Axon both nabbed a spot on the All-Conference USA second team, while Axon was also named to the conference All-Freshman squad.
Palmer has had a stellar junior season for the Blazers, playing in all 17 regular-season matches and starting in 16 of those contests. She led UAB in three categories, including goals (8), points (18) and game-winning goals (4), as well as tallying two assists. She also ranked among Conference USA's best in conference game stats, including first in goals (6), game-winning goals (3) and goals per game (0.67).
In just her first year as a Blazer, Axon stepped in and made her presence known. She competed in all 17 games during the regular season schedule, starting the majority of them. She led UAB in assists with three and finished the regular-season fourth on the squad in total points (3).
SMU, who claimed the C-USA regular-season championship, garnered the Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honors as well as Coach of the Year for head coach John Cossaboon.
UAB Puts Four on C-USA All-Tournament Squad
After capturing the Conference USA tournament championship, the Blazers had four players earn a spot on the C-USA All-Tournament team.
Junior Forward Jill Porto was named the Offensive MVP while senior defender Laura Richards was honored as the Defensive MVP. Freshman defender Rachael Axon and senior goalkeeper Katie Forbis were also named to the all-tournament squad.
Richards Named to Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week
Senior defender Laura Richards has been named to the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week (11/7) after helping the UAB women's soccer team to the Conference USA Tournament championship during the first week of November.
The Oakville, Ontario, Canada native has been a key component for the Blazers during her tenure at UAB, and looks to continue to help her squad as they prepare for the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday, November 10 at Tennessee.
Richards' honor also marks just the fourth time in school history that a UAB women's soccer player has been named to a Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week. Previous Blazers named to the squad were Katie Forbis (9/20/05), Sally Palmer (10/4/05) and Jenny Rynders (11/12/04).
Jill Porto Listed on Soccer America's National Team of the Week
The UAB women's soccer team picked up yet another honor on Wednesday, November 8 as junior forward Jill Porto was named to the women's soccer National Team of the Week by Soccer America. This marks the second national honor for UAB in one day, as senior Laura Richards was listed on the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week on Wednesday morning.
Forbis Finishes Four Shy of Record
Senior goalkeeper Katie Forbis was so close to reaching the UAB career saves record, falling just four saves short. The record is held by Lisa Nowoslawski, who tallied 327 saves from 1999-2002. Forbis finished her decorated Blazer career with 323 saves.
Forbis will not be left out of the UAB record books though, as she is the bearer of 10 different Blazers records. She holds the single-game record for saves with 16, while also holding the season records for saves, saves per game, wins, fewest goals allowed and best goals allowed average. She has also climbed her way up the career charts, now holding the career records for wins, highest save percentage, shutouts and best goals allowed average.
In 2006, Forbis tallied 51 saves in 13 games played. Her playing time came to a hault momentarily in mid-season due to an injury, but she returned to the Blazers to help guide them to another Conference USA tournament championship and an NCAA tournament berth.
Game-Winning Gals
Junior forwards Sally Palmer and Jill Porto have a knack of scoring goals at the precise time needed. Both have tallied seven game-winning goals each during their careers, which ranks them third in the UAB record books in career game-winning goals.
Palmer has knocked in four game-winners this season, two in 2005 and one as a freshman in 2004. Porto racked up one game-winner in 2004, four as a sophomore in 2005 and a pair of game-winning scores this season.
Both Palmer and Porto are also tied for third in school history in game-winning goals in a season. Palmer has four this season, while Porto put four game-winners in the net in 2005.
