UAB Blazers men's soccer

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UAB Blazers men's soccer - Wikipedia

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UAB Blazers men's soccer

Founded

1979; 45 years ago

University

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Head coach

David Lilly (1st season)

Conference

The American

Location

Birmingham, Alabama

Stadium

PNC Field
(Capacity: 5,000)

Nickname

Blazers

Colors

Forest green and old gold^[1]

Home

Away

NCAA Tournament appearances

1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Conference Tournament championships

GMC
1994

Conference USA
1999

Conference Regular Season championships

GMC
1994

Conference USA
1995, 1999, 2011

The UAB Blazers men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. As of the upcoming 2022 season, the college soccer program competes in the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference (The American).

History

UAB began a men's soccer program back in 1979. Throughout its history, UAB has enjoyed great success in the men's soccer program. The men's team has been in the NCAA Tournament a total of 7 times including 2 Sweet Sixteen appearances and 1 Elite Eight appearance in 1999. The men's team has been ranked nationally numerous times throughout its history, including top 25 rankings in 16 of the last 18 seasons. One of UAB's biggest wins in the men's team history came when UAB upset the #1-ranked UCLA Bruins in 1997 by a score of 2–0. UAB would upset another #1-ranked team in 2006 when they beat the SMU Mustangs by a score of 2–1.

UAB's most recent conference change was announced during the 2021–22 offseason, when it left Conference USA (C-USA) for The American. The decision of the Sun Belt Conference to reinstate its men's soccer league effective with the 2022 season dropped the C-USA men's soccer membership to four.^[2] Of these four schools, three, including UAB, were scheduled to fully move from C-USA to The American in the near future, most likely in July 2023.^[3] Accordingly, The American brought all four remaining C-USA men's soccer teams into its own soccer league.^[4]

Stadium

The men's team began to play to play its home games at UAB's PNC Field (originally BBVA Compass Field, later BBVA Field) in 2015. Prior to this, the Blazers played at their old venue, West Campus Field.^[5]

Since 1993, the men's team has won nearly 80% of its games played at West Campus Field. UAB has frequently been among the national leaders in soccer attendance, finishing as high as 16th nationally in average attendance. The highest attended home soccer game in UAB history came in 2011 when 3,141 fans saw the Blazers defeat Clemson 2–1.

Fans

Although many traditions, cheers, and chants take place at each home game, there is one that "stands above the rest," according to former head coach Mike Getman. Led by alumni super-fan Andrew Robillard, who has not missed a UAB men's home soccer match in 22 seasons, the whole student section sings "God Bless America" in unity. The Hillsborough Times has reported this tradition as one of its "12 College Sports Traditions you Don't Want to Miss."

Notable alumni

Dejan Jakovic
Babayele Sodade
Lars Willemse
Tony McManus
Jerson Monteiro
Carl Woszczynski
Ian Svantesson
Michal Mravec
Alex Clay
Sandy Gbandi
Stuart Schulman
Jose Luis Rayo
Ivan Piola

References

^ University of Alabama at Birmingham Style Guide (PDF). March 11, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
^ "Sun Belt Conference Announces Return of Men's Soccer This Fall" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
^ "American Athletic Conference Announces the Addition of Six Universities" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
^ "American Announces Affiliate Members in Men's Soccer and Women's Swimming and Diving" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
^ "$1.5 million BBVA Compass gift supports on-campus soccer facility at UAB".

External links

Official website

v t e University of Alabama at Birmingham
Located in: Birmingham, Alabama
Schools & colleges	Collat School of Business School of Dentistry School of Engineering Heersink School of Medicine
UAB Health System	UAB Hospital Kirklin Clinic
People	Alumni and faculty
Places	Birmingham Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center Bartow Arena PNC Field Alabama Museum of Health Sciences West Campus Field
Athletics	Football Men's basketball Women's basketball Baseball Men's soccer Synchronized swimming
Affiliations	University of Alabama System Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Oak Ridge Associated Universities Urban 13 Great Cities' Universities Space Grant Colleges Sea Grant Colleges American Athletic Conference National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I FBS
Founded: 1969 Students: 18,568 Endowment: 1 billion

v t e American Athletic Conference men's soccer
Teams	Charlotte 49ers Florida Atlantic Owls FIU Panthers Memphis Tigers South Florida Bulls Temple Owls Tulsa Golden Hurricane UAB Blazers
Championships	American Tournament
Awards	Player of the Year
Seasons	2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Tournament	2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Rivalries	War on I-4 (South Florida–UCF)

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