Polcari's Two Goals Carries Blazers To C-USA Tournament

Thursday, October 29

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 PM

UAB

Memphis

Polcari's Two Goals Carries Blazers To C-USA Tournament

10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Oct. 29, 2009

Final Stats

MEMPHIS, Tenn. Sophomore midfielder Carolyn Polcari scored two goals, including the game-winner just over four minutes into the first overtime, to lead the UAB women's soccer team to a 2-1 overtime victory at Memphis on Thursday night. With the win, the Blazers have secured a spot in the 2009 C-USA Tournament.

"This was a great win," UAB head coach Paul Harbin said. "We struggled a little in the first half, but we made a couple of halftime adjustments and everyone got on the same page. I thought we did a much better job in the second half and executed well."

The Blazers entered the night clinging to the sixth and final slot for the league tournament, leading seventh-place SMU by one point. As regulation time wound down, Harbin was torn whether or not to tell his team that the Mustangs had won, moving them ahead of UAB for the final tournament spot, meaning his team would have to pull out a win against the Tigers.

"I told our team we have to win going into the overtime," Harbin said. "I told them they have to take chances and risks and that a tie wasn't going do anything for us. As a coaching staff, we debated on telling them, but we told them and they knew exactly what they had to do. I thought it was worth them knowing and when I told them, I saw their response was very matter of fact. And we definitely got the response we needed."

Polcari's game-winning goal came at the 94:23 mark on the first shot of the overtime session. The Blazers had possession deep in the Tigers' defensive third of the field and sophomore Laura McCalla served a ball in that Memphis tried and failed to clear. Polcari gathered the loose ball and chipped a shot from eight-yards out over the head of goalkeeper Elise Kuhar-Pitters.

The contest didn't start well for the Green and Gold, as Memphis (13-6, 8-3 C-USA) struck first in the 34th minute. That's when freshman Averi Hallman sent a pass to teammate Brittany Baldwin who then hit a shot past UAB goalkeeper Kate Blankenship, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

The lead would hold up until Polcari came through with her first goal of the season and seventh tally of her career at the 71:52 mark. The goal was set up by McCalla who sent in a cross which Polcari collected and buried into the Memphis goal to even the score at a goal apiece.

The Blazers had a chance to end the contest in regulation as the final seconds ticked away, but Kuhar-Pitters was up to the challenge, making the last of her three saves.

Memphis outshot UAB, 17-8, and had an 8-5 shots-on-goal advantage in the contest. Blankenship made six saves en route to her 10th win in the net for the Blazers this season.

"This is a team that has young core," Harbin said. "We have had some ups and down that go with youth. At times we played extremely well and showed we are capable of playing with anyone. There has also been times when we have shown we are capable of not playing well. Tonight's match was a crucial test to see what we were made of. To see our team come through and play the way today, I feel now the team will go into tournament with tremendous confidence. Today was the defining point of our season."

The Blazers finish the regular season with an 11-6-2 overall mark and a 5-4-2 record in league play. UAB will have to wait until the final day of games on Friday to find out its first-round opponent for the tournament, which will take place on Nov. 4-8 in Dallas, Texas.