Soccer sacks Gamecocks

Tarek Abdalla, Staff Writer
Published On: 11/ 3/2009

The Blazers shined on senior night as they rolled over the Gamecocks of South Carolina 3-0. The Blazers attacked early and often and showed exactly why they are atop of the Conference-USA table.

The Blazers’ furious attack began within fifteen minutes as defender Dean Sorrell threatened with the first shot of the game. Moments later, another near opportunity went wide of goal.

A scary moment for both teams took place near the 25th minute when forward Babayele Sodade and South Carolina goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer collided in front of the goal; however, both players would be fine.

Shortly afterwards, the Blazers thought they had taken the lead, but the goal was waived off due to an offside call.
After the Gamecocks were given a yellow card late in the first half, the Blazers would finally find the back of the net. Forward Anthony King amended his earlier offside call by blasting a shot past Maurer into the far-post side netting in the 39th minute.

King was assisted by good ball movement from defender Bart Markel and forward Kofi Gyawu. South Carolina almost equalized a minute later, but could not get the ten yard strike past goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski.

The momentum built by the Blazers seemed to deflate South Carolina as UAB provided much of the same dominant performance at the start of the second half.

The Blazers continued to control possession for the first twenty minutes of the second half, and then UAB got the insurance goal they wanted.

Midfielder Two-Boys Gumede finished the attack just outside the six-yard box after receiving clinical passes from Sodade and midfielder Kevin Sawchak.

UAB would tack on the third and final goal ten minutes later when Sodade recorded his seventh goal of the season by one-touching the ball just past the Carolina keeper.

Sodade finished after Gumede and midfielder Chris Williams both played balls over Gamecock defenders that brought the UAB faithful to their feet.

The Blazers finished the match outshooting South Carolina 15-7.

The match was special because it was the last home game for eight Blazers: Seniors Alandus Brooks, Two-Boys Gumede, Wes Johnson, Sibusiso Macwele, Bart Markel, John Markey, and Jonah Stewart; all of whom received playing time on senior night.

The result clinched a spot in the Conference-USA tournament for the Blazers where they remain on top of the standings tied with Tulsa and are guaranteed at least a #2 seed in the tournament.

The Blazers play Alabama A&M over the weekend and play their final conference match at Marshall on November 7.
UAB can clinch at least a share of the regular season conference title with a win at Marshall, and can win the title outright if Tulsa fails to match UAB’s result against Marshall.

The regular season champions host the conference tournament, so the Blazers are playing for much more than seeding.

Email: tabdalla@uab.edu