BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB scored a pair of goals to overcome a one-goal deficit and claim a 2-1 non-conference men's collegiate soccer victory over visiting Georgia Southern on Tuesday evening at BBVA Compass Field in Birmingham, Ala.

The loss was the first for the Eagles (6-6) in away games this season, while UAB (4-5-3) remained unbeaten on its home field in 2017. Georgia Southern will return to conference play on Saturday, traveling to Oneonta, N.Y., to face Hartwick on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Eagles struck first in the 23rd minute as a through ball from Nick Wells sent Victor Gustafsson into the box one-on-one with the keeper. Gustafsson's shot clipped the keeper but bounced into the net for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

It didn't take long for the Blazers to equalize as Ryan Sullivan drilled a shot from about 22' out in the 29th minute to make the score 1-1. The score would remain tied at the break, with UAB enjoying an 11-7 edge in shots.

In the second half, each team tested the other keeper in the first 15 minutes as Chris Reichman's shot was saved by the Eagles' Robert Flott in the 53rd minute, while Gustafsson's shot in the 59th minute was turned away by James Teal.

UAB would break the deadlock in the 75th minute. A shot from Aidan O'Hara hit the crossbar, bounced down and teammate Massimo Ferrin would head it in to make the score 2-1.

The best chance for the Eagles to equalize in the final moments came in the 85th minute when Javier Carbonell was fouled just outside the box by the Blazers. Carbonell, who has two goals on free kicks this season, hit a bouncing shot that Teal turned away to preserve the one-goal lead. 

"This was a tough loss for us," Head Coach John Murphy said. "I'm disappointed with the result, but I think we can take some good things from it. I think the pace of the game got away from us. We've got to do a better job of retaining the ball, to break up the opposition's tempo. At times we were outplayed, and that was disappointing as there shouldn't be that much of a gulf between the two teams.

"I do think we started well, Victor scored a great goal on a brilliant ball from Nick Wells. Robert Flott made a couple of good saves to keep it close, and our center backs Gonzalo Talavera and Justin Little stood out tonight as a pairing. But now, we've got to recover and prepare for a trip up to New York for a very important league game at Hartwick on Saturday."

The Blazers would finish the match with a 14-11 edge in shots. Teal would finish the game with six saves in net for UAB, while Flott made five saves in net for the Eagles. Georgia Southern had a season-high 12 corner kicks on the night, while UAB had five. Ten fouls were whistled on the Eagles and seven on the Blazers, and each team was offsides three times in the contest.