Eagles Drop Season Opener at No. 21 UAB, 2-1
8/26/2012 11:04:41 PM | Men's Soccer
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Georgia Southern Men’s Soccer out-shot No. 21 UAB on Sunday afternoon in Birmingham, but fell 2-1 to the Blazers. Goals for the home side on either side of halftime gave the Eagles a mark to shoot for, while a goal in the 74th minute brought the Eagles closer. Ultimately, Southern was unable to make the most of its chances in the final minutes with three shots not finding the net in the last five minutes to confirm the final result
“We knew it was going to be a difficult environment today going to play a top-25 team on the road, but I felt that overall the guys responded well and competed,” said head coach Kevin Kennedy. “I was disappointed with our lack of focus to give up those two goals right before and after halftime, but the guys came back and fought. One of the things we’re going to have to work on is the mental toughness to not dig holes for ourselves.”
UAB improves to 2-0 on the season while the Eagles are 0-1 on the year with a pair of games in Spartanburg, S.C. against Winthrop and Gardner-Webb slated for this weekend.
The Blazers took most of the early shots, recording four of the first five shots in the contest. As time waned in the opening half, UAB found the net in the 42nd minute when Mladen Lemez headed home a free kick off the boot of Diego Navarrete for his first goal of the season.
After the break, the Blazers doubled their lead just 1:08 after the re-start. Kofi Gyawi posted his second goal of the campaign off assists from Ian Svantesson and Milan Milinkovic on a quick counterattack.
Down a pair of goals the Eagles weren’t phased, taking four of the next five shots. It was the fifth shot, a rifled attempt from Reed Norton that cut the lead to 2-1 in the 74th minute. Seth Prieto played the ball forward from midfield to Norton who delivered the strike from 25 yards for his first collegiate goal.
GSU caught a break less than a minute later when Kark Chester dismissed on his second yellow card of the afternoon for a tackle on Nick Lane.
With UAB down to 10 men, the Eagles pressed forward looking for the equalizer. Georgia Southern registered four shots in the final 10 minutes with two shots forcing the UAB keeper to make a save.
Jack Falle, a transfer from last year’s UAB squad got the start for the Eagles and made three saves on the afternoon.
The Eagles face Winthrop on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. in a neutral site match from Wofford’s Snyder Field. GSU faces Gardner-Webb on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the weekend finale.
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