The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
SMU
Blazers Get Road Win At SMU, 2-1
10/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 19, 2008
DALLAS, Texas - The UAB women's soccer team earned a 2-1 road win over Conference USA foe SMU on Sunday afternoon at Wescott Field. Freshman Carolyn Polcari scored both goals for the Blazers in the victory over the Mustangs.
UAB's record improves to 6-9-1 overall and 4-3-1 in conference games. SMU falls to 5-10-1 on the year and 3-5-0 in league play.
SMU took the first lead of the game in the 56th minute when Kristin Medeiros knocked in a goal, with assists by Devon Herrman and Katie Leonard, to put the Mustangs up 1-0.
UAB responded in the 69th minute when Polcari took a corner kick and curled it into the net to tie the game at one-all. Polcari followed that with her second goal of the game, and her fifth of the season, in the 81st minute on a shot from approximately 16 yards out to put UAB up 2-1 and secure the victory for the Blazers.
"I thought we played fairly well in the first half today," said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. "The pace was fairly slow on both sides and I don't think either team was playing with a sense of urgency.
"We knew that we had to play with urgency in the second half. When they scored first, that is when we really stepped up and changed the flow of the game.
"We needed someone to come in and spark us. Carolyn Polcari really did that for us and did a great job scoring both goals. Her first goal was off a great corner kick. The second goal was just a tremendous individual effort on her part to get in position and make that play."
UAB held a slight edge in shots, 13-11. The Blazers tallied seven shots on goal, while the Mustangs had six.
Polcari had a team-best seven shots for UAB, including four shots on goal. Freshman forward Tiffini Turpin had two shots and four other Blazers added one shot each.
"When they put me in the game, they expect me to go in there and attack," said Polcari. "After they scored first, we all knew that we had to score. I connected well with the other two forwards today and we had some good chances. I just tried to finish as many chances that I could."
Logan May paced SMU with two shots on the day. Nine other players took one shot apiece for the Mustangs.
Sophomore Kate Blankenship earned the win in goal for UAB, grabbing five saves and allowing one goal. Goalkeeper Ashley Gunter received the loss for SMU, giving up two goals and tallying five saves on the day.
The Blazers will be back in action on Friday when they host the East Carolina Pirates in C-USA action. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at West Campus Field.
"As the season goes on, each game is really important so that we put ourselves in a position to make the conference tournament," said senior midfielder Nadine Liverpool. "East Carolina is one of the top teams in the conference and it is really important that we come out next weekend and get that win. We need to step up and play our best."
