BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB men’s soccer team opened exhibition play with a 2-0 victory against Auburn-Montgomery on Tuesday night at West Campus Field. Senior Atak Yai and freshman James Nanje Ngoe provided the Blazers’ two goals in their first exhibition match of 2013.

“I thought it was a pretty good game overall,” head coach Mike Getman stated. “We saw some things that we definitely need to work on. At the same point, we scored two nice goals, created some good chances, won the game, and got the shutout. An awful lot of positives, but certainly some things to work on."

The exhibition match was broken into three 30-minute periods. Both teams were scoreless through the first two periods. Yai broke through the Warhawk defense in the 67th minute and put one past AUM’s Phillip Hitpass to give the squad a 1-0 lead. Ngoe added some comfort with his goal in the 85th minute, sealing the win for the Blazers.

Senior Raphael Ville and redshirt freshman Joe Kuzminsky combined for the clean sheet. Ville contributed three saves in 60 minutes of play, while Kuzminksy recorded one stop in his 30 minutes in goal.

“I thought we had a lot of new guys who showed that they have the composure and understanding of the game to do well at this level,” Getman added. "Really, I was pleased with all of them.”

UAB will be back on the field Thursday night when they host Montevallo in its second exhibition match. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at West Campus Field. 

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