BIRMINGHAM - The Georgia Southern men's soccer squad went on the road and picked up a 3-1 non-conference victory over UAB on Tuesday evening at BBVA Field in Birmingham.
The win was the first for the Eagles (4-3) in six tries against the Blazers (1-5-1), and halted a two-game skid for Georgia Southern. The Eagles return to action on Friday evening, hosting in-state rival Mercer on Friday at Eagle Field in a 7 p.m. matchup.
Sophomore Adam Davie opened the scoring for the Eagles, getting onto a ball passed from midfield by freshman Asgeir Kristjansson that pulled UAB goalkeeper Julian Mehl out of his net. Davie deftly dribbled past Mehl and scored in the 16th minute of the match to stake GS to the early lead.
UAB put pressure on the Eagles late in the first half, searching for an equalizer, but Georgia Southern would take that one-goal lead into the break. Shots were even at 6-all between the two squads at halftime.
In the second half, the Eagles would double their lead in the 58th minute as senior Azaad Liadi corralled a deflection inside the box and beat Mehl for his first goal at Georgia Southern and the 2-0 advantage.
A nifty give-and-go between Davie and junior Cristian Medina would result in Medina's first career Eagle tally in the 66th minute.
UAB would get on the scoreboard at the 83rd minute mark on an own goal by the Eagles, but Georgia Southern would not allow another Blazer shot the rest of the way to secure the victory.
"To go anywhere and get a strong result off of a solid performance is always satisfying," Georgia Southern Head Men's Soccer Coach John Murphy said. "UAB is a standard in the region, but we're not going to let ourselves get carried away. It was a comprehensive team performance I felt, although I was disappointed that we lost the shutout at the end. I thought we had the better of it for all 90 minutes."
The Eagles finished the night with a 14-8 edge in shots. Jokull Blaengsson made a pair of first-half saves in net for GS, while Mehl made five saves on the evening for the Blazers. UAB enjoyed a 6-3 edge in corner kicks, while 10 fouls were whistled on the Blazers and nine on the Eagles. Each team was offsides once on the night.
