Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Readies for UAB Challenge
10/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 19, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Thundering Herd men's soccer team will face the UAB Blazers in a match with crucial Conference USA postseason implications as the league's No. 5 and No. 6 ranked teams square-off at UAB's West Campus Field for a 3 p.m. ET showdown on Saturday afternoon.
Marshall (10-2-1, 2-2-0) enters the match as the No. 5 ranked team in the league after falling to Kentucky 1-0 in its most recent C-USA battle. UAB (7-5-2, 2-3-0) was ranked as high as No. 25 in the nation just one week ago, but has fallen in consecutive C-USA matches to Kentucky and Tulsa to drop from the national spotlight.
When these two programs met last season at Sam Hood Field, the visiting Blazers walked away 3-2 victors behind a double from Babayele Sodade, who graduated last May and now plays for the MLS's Seattle Sounders. Picking up the slack for the UAB offense this season has been Kofi Gyawu, a senior forward with 5 goals and 4 assists for the fall.
Marshall's leading scorer, Tom Jackson, has missed the past two matches with a knee injury and is once again doubtful heading into Saturday's match. After failing to score a goal for just the third time this season in last Wednesday's defeat to the Wildcats, the Marshall offense will hope that its other top scorers - freshmen Jack Hopkins and Andrew Ferguson, and senior Eddy Prugh - will step up in the senior forward's absence. The Herd is 2-6-1 all-time versus the Blazers and hasn't won a regular season game in the series since 2009.
A Marshall victory on Saturday would give the program its first 11-win season since 2001 and lend the team 3 vital points for its C-USA total. With just three conference matches to play after the game against UAB, a Herd win and 9 total points would go a long way in easing the pressure during the closing weeks of the regular season.
Live stats and live video for Saturday's 3 p.m. match may be followed by clicking the links below.
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