Blazers Fired Blanks In Their Tournament

The Soccer For A Cure Tournament at the University of Alabama Birmingham is about good soccer games and a worthwhile cause.

The Blazers, who have held the tournament for 16 years, were joined this year by East Tennessee State, Charlotte and the University of Memphis.

Proceeds from the two-day tournament go to help support the Soccer For A Cure Foundation, which is a foundation started by Georgia’s Charlie Corbett (Alpharetta) which provides assistance to families who have a child struggling with childhood cancer. Proceeds from the UAB event are directed to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham.

UAB was ranked #8 nationally with a 3-1-1 record, and the Blazers were the top scoring team in Division I mens soccer, averaging 3.67 goals a game.

Among those first three wins was a 2-1 overtime victory over defending national champion Indiana three games into the season at home at West Campus Field.

With 17 seconds left in the first overtime period freshman Rami Dajani headed home the winner.

There would be no heroics for the Blazers in their tournament this year as they opened with a 0-0 draw with Charlotte and then took their first loss of the year 1-0 to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers.

ETSU’s loan goal came off a Blazer own goal in the 82nd minute.

“Own goals are a part of soccer,” said UAB head coach Mike Getman. “The own goal to me was not the issue. We played two matches, scored zero goals That’s what is disappointing.

Memphis earned the tournament title on goal differential over ETSU, and Shane Keely, a senior midfielder for the Tigers, was named the tournament’s MVP after scoring the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over #21 ranked Charlotte.