The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Soccer Opens Regular Season At Westifeld Cup
8/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 30, 2007
Birmingham, Ala. ----- The UAB men's soccer team will open the 2007 regular season, when it travels to Akron, Ohio to compete at the annual Westfield Insurance Cup on Aug. 31 through Sept. 2. The Blazers will open play on Friday when they battle Hartwick College at 2:30 p.m. ET, followed by Sunday's final game against tournament host Akron at 5 p.m. ET.
"This is a great tournament to start the season for us," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "The field consists of some of the top teams in college soccer and it is going to provide us with a good measuring stick of where we are as a team. We always want to challenge our guys and this weekend will certainly present us with be two challenging games."
When the Blazers battle Hartwick on Friday, it will be the first time the two teams square off on the pitch in school history. Newly-minted Mid-American Conference member Hartwick were 8-10-2 in 2006, 3-2-1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Hawks return five starters and 11 lettermen off last year's squad. The Hawks will boast a solid mixture of seasoned veterans as well as a talented incoming recruiting class, which was recognized as the 23rd-ranked class in the nation by CollegeSoccerNews.com.
UAB will then square off against tournament host Akron on Sunday, Sept. 1. Akron posted a 13-5-1 record and shared the MAC regular-season title in Caleb Porter's first year as men's head coach in 2006. That was the ninth time in its 14 years as a member of the league that UA has claimed at least a shared of the championship. Nine letterwinners return from that squad.
New Mexico, the 2005 NCAA College Cup runners up, is the other team competing in the event. The Lobos posted a 14-4-3 record in 2006, winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship for the third-straight season and the fifth time in the last six years. New Mexico advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling 3-1 to No. 13 California.
Each of the Blazers' games can be followed with live stats, by clicking on the link on the UAB men's soccer schedule.
