The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Soccer Faces FIU in C-USA Quarterfinals
11/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The UAB men's soccer team sees a familiar face in the opening round of the Conference USA Championships on Wednesday evening. The Blazers will play FIU at the host site, Marshall, for a 7 p.m. kick-off. These two teams played one another to conclude the regular season last Saturday night, a game the Panthers won 2-1. UAB enters as the sixth seed with a record of 6-8-3 overall while FIU is the third seed and went 8-6-1.
This is the 21st time the Blazers have made the Conference USA Tournament. That is the most by any school within the conference. The winner of this game will go on to face the winner of the South Carolina versus Old Dominion match.
HOW TO FOLLOW
C-USA CHAMPIONSHIPS • C-USA Central | Bracket
WATCH • Conference USA
TWITTER • @UAB_MSoc
INSTAGRAM • @UAB_MSoc
SNAPCHAT • UABathletics
| UAB Blazers | Team | FIU |
| 6-8-3 | Overall Record | 8-6-1 |
| 2-5-1 | Conference USA Record | 5-2-1 |
| 8-5-1 | Series Record | 5-8-1 |
| 0.94 | Goals Per Game | 1.44 |
| 1.06 | Goals Against Average | 1.38 |
| Two tied with seven | Points Leader | Santiago Patino (16) |
THREE EARN ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
The Blazers saw three players named earn All-Conference USA accolades earlier on Tuesday. Goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky and midfielder David Valverde each earned second team honors while defender William White was named to the third team. It was the first time any of those three Blazers was named to an All-Conference team. Massimo Ferrin and Eder Mora were also honored as members of the All-Freshman Team.
LAST TIME OUT
The UAB men's soccer team lost to FIU 2-1 on last Saturday night playing in adverse weather conditions.
The Panthers were first on the board in this contest. Luis Betancur tallied his first goal of the season placed the ball into the lower left corner of the goal to open the game at 1-0 for FIU in the 11th minute.
UAB would not trail for long as senior James Ngoe equalized in the 23rd minute off a well-placed through ball from David Valverde. The goal was his second of the season and Valverde's second assist of the year and put the Blazers back into the contest.
FIU took the lead back in the 65th minute when Santiago Patino tacked on his eighth goal of the season to give his team the 2-1 advantage. UAB was able to fire off two more shots following the goal but neither hit the target.
Blazers goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky finished with six saves to push his season total to 71, the highest-mark in Conference USA this season. For his career, he now has stopped 188 shots leaving him 12 saves shy of reaching 200 career saves.
SCOUTING FIU
The Panthers enter the postseason with five straight wins and have outscored teams 10-2 over that stretch. FIU saw five players named to All-Conference USA teams earlier today including two freshman on the list.
Santiago Patino was one of two Panthers named to First Team All-C-USA. Patino scored last Saturday against the Blazers and leads the team with eight goals this season. He ranks tied for second in the conference in goals scored.
