UAB Falls to Southern Miss in C-USA Quarterfinals, 1-0

Wednesday, October 31

Norfolk, Va.

1 p.m.

UAB

9-8-1

Southern Miss

12-5-1

Southern Miss

UAB

UAB Falls to Southern Miss in C-USA Quarterfinals, 1-0

10/31/2018 6:43:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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

BIRMINGHAM – A Southern Miss goal with a little over 12 minutes to play broke a defensive gridlock in Thursday afternoon's Conference USA Quarterfinal matchup as the Blazers' season ended with a 1-0 defeat to the Golden Eagles at the ODU Soccer Complex.

UAB (9-8-1, 6-4 C-USA) finished the season with nine wins, notching its first back-to-back winning seasons since the 2003-04 campaigns, and finished third in the league after being picked sixth in the preseason by C-USA's head coaches.

The Blazers tallied seven shots in the contest, with Caroline Kehrer and Betsy Ornelas each firing off a pair apiece. Natalie Presedo, Regan Kommor and Kamilah Mustafa each had a shot as well, with Presedo, Ornelas and Mustafa putting shots on frame.

UAB's defense was strong in the match, led by Kelsey Daugherty's three saves. Daugherty wrapped up her Blazer career with 351 saves, the all-time leader in that category.

Southern Miss (12-5-1, 5-4-1 C-USA) was led by Miah Zuazua, who netted the match's lone goal on her only shot of the game. Stephanie Garcia and Ashton Stennis both got off two shots to help the Golden Eagle offense.

The two teams combined for four shots in the first half, with neither team really finding any rhythm on the offensive side of the ball. That all changed in the second period, when the two teams moved the ball with ease and fired off six shots apiece.

With the score deadlocked and neither team's defense looking to budge, it was the Golden Eagles' Zuazua who landed the first blow with just over 12 minutes on the clock, firing a low effort past an outstretched Daugherty to put her side ahead.

The Blazers did their best to claw back into the game, their best effort coming off the head of Kehrer late in the period, but they could not find the back of the net as the Golden Eagles advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 victory.

UAB now looks ahead to next season, but not before saying goodbye to its seven seniors in Daugherty, Kehrer, Alex Otto, Jessica Do, Megan Morrow, Jordan Barham and Courtney Carraway. The team will return seven starters from this season as it prepares for the 2019 campaign.

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