BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB men’s soccer team outshot Georgia State, 20-8, but could only muster one goal in a 1-1 tie Sunday night versus Georgia State at West Campus Field. Despite the draw, the Blazers remain unbeaten on the year, with a 3-0-2 mark.

 

“I thought we played pretty well in the first half, but not great,” UAB head coach Mike Getman said. “We gave them one chance in the first half, but they scored on it. I thought we played very well in the second half and had several great scoring chances. Hats off to their goalkeeper who had a bunch of saves, most of those were absolutely brilliant saves. We did everything we wanted to do but just couldn’t get that second goal.”

 

UAB not only outshot the Panthers, but had a 12-3 shots advantage in the second half and two overtimes alone. In fact, of the Blazers' 20 shots on the night, 12 came on frame.

 

However, Georgia State goalkeeper C.J. Cochran was up for the challenge, making 10 saves – many of which were of the diving variety.  UAB goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski was strong in the net as well, making two saves.

 

UAB got on the board first at the 13:40 mark when senior Babayele Sodade was taken down in the box by Cochran, who was whistled for a foul that resulted in a yellow card. Freshman Diego Navarrete converted the penalty kick to give UAB the early 1-0 lead.

 

But the Panthers (3-1-1) responded just under three minutes later to even things at one apiece. Georgia State’s Michael Nwiloh set the goal up with a cross which found the feel of Ayokunle Lumpkin. Lumpkin then one-touched a pass to the feet of Evan Scott who hit a shot into the lower right corner past a diving Woszczynski and into the back of the net.

 

Both teams had a goal disallowed in the second half. Sodade seemed to have found the back of the net late in the second half; however, he was whistled for being offsides, which negated the goal. Likewise, Georgia State seemed to have scored the potential game-winning tally in the final minute of regulation, but was called for a push off to negate the goal.

 

Navarrete led the Blazers with five shots, two of which came on frame. Scott was the only player for Georgia State to record multiple shots on the evening with four.

 

The contest was physical from start to finish as the teams combined for 33 fouls and five yellow cards.

 

“Georgia State is a physical team and that’s how they want to play,” Getman said. “They beat you up for 90 minutes ad hope you get tired and make mistakes. I thought our guys did a good job of not letting the physical part of the game deter them. We did get fatigued at the when and when you get to overtime, anything can happen.

 

“It’s a little disappointing because I think we should be 5-0 instead of 3-0-2,” Getman continued. “I thought we deserved to win both games that we tied. But we haven’t lost, we’ve battled hard so I am pretty pleased with our guys.”

 

The Blazers will next host the UAB “Soccer For A Cure” Classic next weekend. UAB will open the event Friday night at 7:30 p.m. against VCU, following by a 2:30 kickoff vs. UW-Milwaukee.