The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Kentucky
UAB Falls To Kentucky In Overtime, 2-1
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 18, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's soccer team dropped another heartbreaker on Saturday night, falling to Conference USA rival Kentucky, 2-1, in overtime. The loss dropped the Blazers to 4-7-2 (1-3 C-USA) on the season, with all seven losses coming by one goal and five of those defeats in the final minutes of a game or in overtime.
"We did a great job to fight back from an early goal, but we gave the game away in the opening seconds," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "When you make mistakes like we made, you're not going to win. We battled back from the early goal and fought hard to tie the game, but we were so tired at the end. We just have to play smarter than we did tonight."
With the score tied at one apiece in the waning seconds of the first overtime, Kentucky's Chad Hagerty sent a cross to the head of teammate Tyler Burns. Burns then sent a header into the middle of the UAB goal where Tim Crone slid and scored the game-winning goal past UAB goalkeeper Wes Johnson for his fifth goal of the season and a 2-1 Wildcat win.
"When you're down a goal the entire game and work as hard as we did to get even, you get pretty tired," Getman said. "We had a few guys injured which also hurt us, but that is part of soccer. It simply comes down to not giving away goals and that's what we did to start this game, which is why we lost."
The Wildcats began the contest with a bang by scoring one of the fastest goals in West Campus Field history, netting one just 18 seconds into the contest. After a UAB foul set up a direct kick from the left side of the Blazers goal, Hagerty sent the free kick to the middle of the box where it was headed in by UK's Stephen Beiro to give his team an early one-goal lead.
The score would remain that way all the way up to the 82:30 mark. That was when UAB defender Curtis Ushedo gathered a loose ball, beat two Wildcat defenders and buried the game-tying goal into the back of the net. Ushedo's goal marked his second tally of the season.
Kentucky outshot UAB, 12-11, but the Blazers had a 5-4 shots-on-goal advantage. UAB also held a 9-6 edge in corner kicks for the contest.
UAB will next be in action against nationally-ranked SMU on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. at West Campus Field.
"SMU is a quality team with a similar playing style," Getman said. "One thing this team has done all year is we have come out and player hard every game, so I know we will be ready. We just have to play mistake-free soccer for 90 minutes and we will have a chance to win."
The match is free to UAB students who have a valid student ID. Additionally, students and UAB men's soccer season ticket holders are encouraged to come and enjoy free food and drinks at a pregame tailgate that will begin 90 minutes before the game (5:30 p.m. CT).
