Blazers Tie Dayton; Earn Tournament Title

September 14, 2014

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB men’s soccer team and Dayton went to two overtimes at West Campus Field on Sunday to play to a 0-0 tie, as the Blazers closed out play at the 17th Annual “Soccer For A Cure” Classic as the tournament champions.

UAB (3-2-1) entered Sunday’s match off a 4-1 win against Vermont late Friday night, while Dayton was coming off a 3-0 win over Jacksonville.

The two teams on Sunday combined for seven shots in the first half as UAB totaled 13 to the Flyers’ five at the final whistle. Seven of the Blazers’ shots were on goal, led by Diego Navarrete’s two.

Lars Willemse, Alex Clay and Karl Chester all got two shots off as Dayton recorded seven saves, while UAB goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky had one save in UAB’s first shutout of the season.

“I’m satisfied with their overall performance, disappointed in the result,” head coach Mike Getman said. “The second day on a weekend is always so hard, both teams are very tired. I thought they sat back and defended really well which made it hard to get too many chances. Seven shots on goal, 13 shots overall is not a bad performance, we just couldn’t get one to go in.”

Junior Freddy Ruiz was named the tournament MVP after recording two goals and an assist in Friday night’s win. Senior Darion Copeland, Clay and senior Pacchino Roberts were all named to the “Soccer For A Cure” All-Tournament Team, as the Blazers picked up their 10th team championship of the annual tournament in its 17-year history.

The Blazers return to action on Saturday for a road contest at Coastal Carolina.

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