UAB Claims First Victory Over Charlotte Since 2003

Friday, October 12

Charlotte, N.C.

3 p.m.

UAB

-751, 42 CUSA

Charlotte

-86, 43 CUSA

UAB

Charlotte

UAB Claims First Victory Over Charlotte Since 2003

10/12/2018 6:48:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Season Stats (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM – Looking to defeat Charlotte for the first time since the 2003 season, the UAB women's soccer team marched into the Queen City and claimed a historic three points on the road after Kamilah Mustafa netted her fourth game-winning goal of the season in the second half to secure the Blazers' 1-0 win over the 49ers.

UAB's (7-5-1, 4-2-0 C-USA) offense put on its best performance of the year on Friday afternoon, firing off 18 shots with nine of those on frame, both season highs. The win also continued UAB's bounce-back streak in road contests and secured head coach Erica Demers' 20^th win of her Blazer career.

"For us, this is what a true conference game is all about," Demers said. "I think that we played well enough in the moments that we had to be courageous and battled against an unbelievably good Charlotte team. We've been speaking to the players about getting the ball on frame more and that goal was very indicative of taking a chance, a mistake happening and getting a result. I am very happy for our team today in battle for a tough road win."

Senior Caroline Kehrer led the team with five total shots in the game, while Mustafa led the Blazers in shots on goal with three of her four attempts on target. Mustafa's game winning goal moves her into a tie for fourth place with a handful of other Blazers in game winners in a single season.

In her second consecutive start, senior Jessica Do also contributed to UAB's offensive swagger, adding a season-high four shots of her own. The 5-foot-1-inch midfielder also provided the defensive highlight of the match, shooting through the air and heading a Charlotte shot off the line in the second half to help seal the win.

Fellow senior Megan Hudgens finished the match with two shots, while three other Blazers added one.

Kelsey Daugherty was a beast in goal, coming up with seven crucial saves to secure her fifth shutout of the season. Daugherty now owns sole possession of second place in the school record books for career shutouts (15), while her 327 career saves moves her into a tie for second place all-time with Lisa Nowoslawski and is 14 saves shy of Kate Blankenship's school record of 341 saves.

Charlotte (8-6-0, 4-3-0 C-USA) was led by Megan Greene, who recorded six shots in the match, and goalkeeper Abby Stapleton, who finished the game with seven saves.

The 49ers jumped out early, getting off four shots in the opening 10 minutes before UAB's offense came to life and outshot the home team, 11-2, over the final 35 minutes of the first half. Although Charlotte had the best look of the half, the Blazer defense was stiff and saw the match go to halftime at 0-0.

With over 25 minutes gone in the second half and the game still scoreless, Mustafa found a sliver of space and rifled off a long-range effort that was bobbled by the goalkeeper over the goal line to put the Blazers up 1-0 with less than 20 minutes remaining.

Needing a goal to force extra time, Charlotte produced two solid chances off headers in the final two minutes of the game, but the danger was cleared both times to clinch UAB's 1-0 win.

The Blazers return to action on Sunday when they travel to Norfolk, Virginia, to wrap up their three-match road trip at Old Dominion. Kickoff from the Old Dominion Soccer Complex is slated for 1 p.m. (CST) on CUSA.tv.

For more information on the UAB women's soccer team follow the Blazers on Twitter and Instagram (@UAB_WSOC).