The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Oregon State tops Blazers, 5-1
9/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 3, 2006
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The UAB women's soccer team dropped its final match at the OSU Nike Invitational to host-school Oregon State, 5-1, on Sunday afternoon. The Blazers lost a tight game to Cal State Northridge, 1-0, on Friday in the opening game of the tournament.
"I thought we played much better today than we did Friday," said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. "It didn't feel like a 5-1 game. When the score was 4-1, the shots we even at 14 a piece."
Naj Homidi got things started for the OSU Beavers when she scored the first goal of the game 12:44 into the first half. Jessica Velazquez and Kelsey Provo backed that up with one goal each before the half, giving Oregon State a 3-0 lead at halftime.
In the 66th minute of the game, Provo nabbed her second goal of the contest to give the Beavers a 4-0 lead over UAB. But, the Blazers would not be blanked as senior Leigh Burton put UAB on the board with a goal in the 83rd minute, assisted by freshman Toni Gockel. One last goal by OSU's Jodie Taylor with less than fivev minutes remaining in the game made the final score, 5-1, in favor of Oregon State.
"We had some great attack opportunities," commented Harbin. "But, Oregon State's goalkeeper made some great saves.
"I thought we played well, but Oregon State capitalized on our mistakes very well. We needed to finish our plays and finish our combinations. We seemed to dominate play from the top of our box to the top of their box in the second half. We just need to finish."
On paper, the game looked much closer than the score indicated. OSU held the shot advantage in the first half, 11-7. Both teams had seven shots in the second half to bring the shot total to 18 for Oregon State and 14 for UAB. Also, junior Jill Porto was named to the all-tournament squad at the conclusion of the weekend.
The Blazers will host their annual UAB Nike Classic presented by the Wynfrey Hotel on Friday, September 8 and Sunday, September 10 at West Campus Field. The four-team tournament will include UAB, Alabama, Kansas and Duke.
