The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Mexico U20 National Team
Blazers Drop Exhibition Contest To Mexico U20 Team, 2-0
8/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 17, 2008
DECATUR, Ala. - The UAB women's soccer fell to the Mexico Under-20 National Team, 2-0, Sunday evening at the Jack Allen Soccer Complex in Decatur, Ala. The match served as the Blazers' first and only exhibition game of the season.
"Overall, I thought our play and structure tonight was decent," said UAB head coach Paul Harbin. "We have some little things that we are going to go back and work on, but I think this definitely was a good, early test for us."
In the first half of play, both teams had scoring chances, but played to a 0-0 tie at the break. Sophomore goalkeeper Kate Blankenship, a returning starter from last season, shutout the Mexico U20 team in the first 45 mintues.
"I think I played solid," said Blankenship. "I could've played better, but I kept the ball out of the net and that's my job."
Mexico took advantage of a couple of UAB defensive mistakes and scored a pair of goals in the second half. The first goal came in the 55th minute off of some individual defensive breakdowns by the Blazers. The second goal, which was challenged just a little too late by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Ashley Park, came in the 62nd minute of the contest.
UAB had its best scoring opportunities of the night in the second half. The first one came just moments after Mexico's first goal when sophomore Janet Self headed in a ball that the Mexico goalkeeper made a diving save with her foot.
The second opportunity happened when junior Danya Barsalona was granted a penalty kick in the 88th minute after being taken down in the box. Barsalona's penalty kick hit the post and Mexico left with a 2-0 win over the Blazers.
"We played very well the first 10 minutes of the game," said Harbin. "Our speed was good and we had a couple of chances that we didn't capitalize on. Then, we started to hold the ball too long and the game went in the other direction.
"We were much better in the second half. Our speed was better and we started to win some of the 50-50 challenges. We just had a few breakdowns that Mexico took advantage of and scored two goals on us."
One of the biggest challenges of the night belonged to UAB senior Nadine Liverpool, who has played center midfield during her entire career with the Blazers, but stepped in and played the entire game at centerback.
"It was definitely a big transition," said Liverpool. "But, it was good experience for me and I could see what we need to focus on as a team now.
"This team has a lot of passion for what we do and I think that is one of our biggest strengths. We played pretty well tonight and I think we can definitely learn from this game and get better before we start the season."
UAB will open its 2008 regular-season schedule on Friday when they travel to Clemson, S.C. to take on the Clemson Tigers. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET.
"We'll go back now and try to iron out the little details before Friday," said Blankenship. "When you get in a real-game situation, the little things show. I think we'll be ready to come out and play hard against Clemson."
