Oct. 27, 2012
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UAB used a goal in the 72nd minute to escape with a 4-3 victory over the UCF men's soccer team Saturday in a thrilling contest at the UCF Soccer Complex. The Knights, who were playing in their home finale, received a pair of goals from Deshorn Brown, including a goal that tied the match in the 66th minute.
The Knights overcame 2-1 and 3-2 deficits to tie the match, and finished with a 23-12 shot advantage.
UAB (9-5-2, 4-3-0 Conference USA) tallied the game-winning goal on an odd play. Kofi Gyawu sent the ball into the air in the box and Karl Chester corralled the volley and sent the ball into the net.
UCF moved to 6-6-3 overall and 3-3-0 in league play with the loss and fell at home for the first time since Sept. 26.
"We weren't on the right end of it tonight, but you've got to commend the guys. They never stopped," UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham said. "We had plenty of chances there at the end for the equalizer, but it just wasn't our night."
Following Chester's goal in the 72nd minute, the hosts had three strong scoring opportunities. With just under eight minutes to play, Omar Vallejo found a streaking A.J. Nelson in the box, but the midfielder could not connect with a header. Two minutes later, both Matthew Gaskins and Romario Williams had strikes from 20 yards out, but UAB keeper Raphael Ville made a pair of brilliant saves.
After Chester's first goal of the game in the 49th minute that put the Blazers up 3-2, Brown took a pass from Vallejo and raced up the field and beat Ville to tie the match. His goal in the 67th minute was his 13th of the year and fifth in the last two games.
Each team scored twice in the opening half. Brown started off the offensive exploits in the 13th minute with a goal off a feed from Nelson. Following a pair of UAB goals off of corners, Vallejo took a pass in the box in the 27th minute and beat Ville to tie the contest.
Prior to the game, UCF honored its seven seniors - Kyle Cox, Shawn Doyle, Ben Hunt, Eduardo Jimenez, Nelson, Andrew Quintana and Malcolm Reed - who were playing at home for the final time.
UCF has two regular-season matches remaining, starting with a Wednesday evening contest at Kentucky.