Senior defender William White carries the ball away from the Blazers’ half of the field during the game against conference opponent No. 15 Kentucky. Photo by Giani MartinTrinity Dix - Staff Writertri915@uab.edu
The UAB men’s soccer team scored two goals to upset the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats in front of a sizeable home crowd on Saturday, Sept. 8.
The Blazers improved to 6-3-3 overall and 2-1-1 in Conference-USA.
“I thought it was a really good performance tonight,” said head coach Mike Getman. “Kentucky’s a terrific team, but I thought tonight we outplayed them and deserve the result.”
In the first half of the game, the Blazers gained a two-point lead against Kentucky, who remained scoreless in the first half before scoring their lone point in the second half.
Senior midfielder Henrique Sposito scored both goals for the Blazers.
UAB’s defense continued to block potential shots on goal from the Wildcats, effectively preventing the nationally ranked team from scoring another point and ultimately winning the game 2-1.
“I don’t know if there’s lot of improvements [to be made],” Getman said. “I think we need to keep this level of intensity, this quality of play. If we can keep everybody healthy, I think we’re gonna be in pretty good shape.”
Two players were downed on the field: No. 20 Tarnue Tyler and No. 5 Andrew Nkpolukwu. Tarnue Tyler — whose “two goals and 19 shots rank second on the team,” according to uabsports.com — was injured during the first half of the game, and sat out for the rest of the first half. Freshman midfielder No. 5 Andrew Nkpolukwu was also injured during the game and sat out for the rest of the second half.
“Well, I think they’ll both be okay,” Getman said. “You know, both, I think, got more tired than anything else. They were cramping, so we expect that both will be okay and ready for the next match.”
Despite the two players being injured during play, the team came out on top.
“I thought tonight was a fantastic game for us,” Getman said. “But everybody played well. The defense was rock solid. We scored two goals against a team that has given up six goals all season. So I thought it was really, really good performance.”
Saturday’s game was part of Fall Family Weekend, during which the players’ families were in attendance.
“It’s really nice to have such a good result in front of everybody’s parents,” Getman said. “I think we had close to 50 family members here to watch their sons or brothers or sisters play. But again, I thought it was a great performance in front of a great crowd and in front of our families. It’s really nice.”
The Blazers travel to Nashville, Tenn. to face Lipscomb on Tuesday, Oct. 11. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m.
