Blazers Defeat SMU, Advance to Elite Eight

Flavio Monteiro struck first for the Blazers, heading in a goal, on a cross from Justin Pratt. The score remained 1-0 through the first half.

The second half was dominated by SMU as the Mustangs out-shot the Blazers 14-4. The Blazers were forced to play short-handed after the 68:02 mark as Rumbani Munthali received his second yellow card of the night, forcing an ejection. David Clemente had seven total saves for the Blazers, including three in the second half. SMU had four near miss goals in the second half, including a shot by Carlos Sacasa that Clemente leaped out and batted away in the 55th minute.

"He (Clemente) did make some great saves to preserve the win in the last 10 minutes," said UAB Head Coach Mike Getman.

Josh Brinkley capped off the scoring, finding the back of the net in an open goal, at the 89:54 mark.

"It's always tough when you don't have an opportunity to play again," said SMU Head Coach Schellas Hyndman. "I thought this team had the potential to be the first SMU team to reach the Final Four. That dream came to an end."

Peter Byaruhanga's 14-game goal-scoring streak also came to an end in the match. Byaruhanga came into the game with the second longest goal-scoring streak in NCAA history.

The Mustangs out-shot the Blazers 24-11 on the match.

"I thought it was a great game for us, a great win," said Getman. "I thought SMU played a great game and we were very pleased to get the result. We knew SMU would get chances. Their forwards (Carl Bussey and Mishu Fahim) were two of the most dangerous players we played against. Overall, I am very proud of this team and our accomplishments."

UAB (17-5-0) advances to the elite eight round of the NCAA Championship and will play the winner of the Duke-Santa Clara match next weekend. SantaClara and top-ranked and top-seeded Duke square off Sunday in second round play.