The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Marshall
UAB Cruises Past Marshall 3-0
9/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Final Stats (PDF)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB men’s soccer team shutout Marshall in the Conference USA opener for both teams on Saturday night 3-0. The Blazers won for the seventh time in as many tries against Marshall at home. They improve to 3-2-2 this season while the Thundering Herd falls to 3-4-0 on the year.
For UAB, it was the 100th Conference USA victory in school history.
“I thought we controlled from the first minute to the last,” said UAB head coach Mike Getman. “All the things we’ve been working on for the last few weeks really seemed to show in the play today.”
The Blazers controlled the game from start to finish. Their first goal came off the foot of forward Rami Dajani. The senior had missed the last three games but showed little rust getting UAB on the board in the 22nd minute when a botched clearance by Marshall went right to Dajani in front of the net and finished it with a well-struck ball.
“Rami is a big part of this team and is a big part of what we are trying to do offensively,” stated Getman. “It was a big boost to our team having him back out there.”
Marshall remained down by just the one goal despite UAB controlling possession. The Blazers got back on the board in the 77th minute with an excellent individual effort by James Ngoe to net his first of the season. The senior defender/midfielder crossed up a defender in a one-on-one situation and finished with a shot into the upper right 90. It was his first goal since 2014.
The Blazers tacked on one more in the 85th minute. Superb passing by UAB in the Thundering Herd territory led to midfielder Henrique Sposito possessing the ball. Sposito laid a perfectly weighted ball ahead to forward Chase Rushing. The freshman forward finished with a shot across the ground and into the lower left corner for his first career goal and to give the Blazers the final score of 3-0.
UAB outshot Marshall 15-4, tying its highest shooting output of the season.
For the Blazers, it was the third shutout of the season. Goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky was not tasked with having to make any saves but moves closer to the top five in school history for career wins (four wins away).
Nine different players fired off a shot for UAB as 19 players got into the game.
“There is no question that this is a deep team,” said Getman on his team’s performance. “If you look at the scoring, it was scattered throughout the team. Some younger, some older guys, different positions. I thought every single guy did what he was supposed to be doing.
UAB now rests for a week before taking on Old Dominion at home next Saturday night. That match on September 24 is scheduled to kick-off at 7:00 p.m. The Monarchs are currently receiving votes in the latest NSCAA national rankings.
