The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Centenary College
Blazers Cruise Past Centenary, 2-0
9/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 7, 2009
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's soccer team outshot Centenary, 26-7, en route to a decisive 2-0 win over Centenary on Monday afternoon at West Campus Field. The Blazers recorded a pair of second half goals from junior Victor Sambade and sophomore Babayele Sodade to capture their second straight win.
"The number one objective is to win the game and we did that," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "The second objective is to get a shutout and we did that, so I thought it was a pretty good day for us. There were some things we could've done better, we had 26 shots and two goals. We would like to have that at a higher percentage. But we did create a number of chances and didn't give them many opportunities, especially in the second half."
After a fairly even opening 45 minutes of scoreless action, the Blazers stepped it up a notch and took control of the second half, outshooting the Gents, 16-2, over the final 45 minutes. The Blazers finished the game with a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks and nine of their 26 shots on frame.
UAB finally broke through the Centenary defense at the 54:33 mark when senior John Markey placed a corner kick perfectly over the reach of Gents' goalkeeper Rennie Walker and right on the head of Sambade. The A Coruna, Spain native then snapped a header into a wide open net to give his team a 1-0 lead.
The Blazers then put the game away in the 82nd minute when Sodade scored his third goal over UAB's last two contests. Senior Sibusiso Macwele started the offensive attack by taking the ball down the left side of the field. He then sent a low cross through the penalty box, which Sodade one-timed into the left side of the goal to result in the final score.
Over his last three games, Sodade has scored three of the team's five goals, while also accounting for eights shots, six of which came on frame. Getman feels Sodade is beginning to settle into the forward position quite nicely.
"Babayele is definitely getting more comfortable each game and continues to score goals for us," Getman said. "He has scored three goals in last two games, which is obviously hard to complain about. When you have young players in attacking positions, sometimes they finish and sometimes they don't, but right now he seems to be on a good streak."
The UAB defense gave another solid effort, allowing just seven shots in the contest, while sophomore goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski made five saves en route to his first shutout of the season and second of his career.
The Blazers will return to action this weekend when they host the annual UAB "Soccer For A Cure" Classic on Friday, Sept. 11 and Sunday, Sept. 13. The action begins on Friday night at West Campus Field as UMKC and Memphis get the tournament underway at 5 p.m., followed by UAB against Drake in the night cap beginning at 7:30 p.m. Sunday's action begins at noon with Drake and Memphis, followed by the tournament finale between UMKC and UAB at 2:30 p.m.
Admission is free to all UAB students with a valid ID, while students and season ticket holders are encouraged at attend a pregame tailgate with free food and drinks beginning approximately 60 minutes prior to the start of the UAB matches.
