CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ---
Kendra Mueller connected with
Samantha Shaw to give The Chattanooga women's soccer team a 1-0 win over UAB in the season-opener Thursday night at the UTC Sports Complex.
Â
Mueller made an aggressive steal off a Blazer pass in the 71
st minute just outside the 18-yard box and quickly pushed toward the goal. With UAB's keeper charging, Mueller passed the ball to teammate
Samantha Shaw in the middle of the box. With just one touch, Shaw slotted a shot through the remaining defense into the bottom left corner of the goal for the only score of the game.
Â
"It was a really tough match," Chattanooga head coach
Gavin McKinney said. "UAB made things extremely difficult for us, took us out of our rhythm. We couldn't find ways to connect and break their pressure, but we found a winner."
Â
UAB outshot Chattanooga 16-5 and had a 10-3 shots on goal advantage. Mocs' keeper
Ashton Shields was put to the test making 10 saves in the match.
Â
"We work hard collectively as a group when we don't have the ball," McKinney said. "Ashton was good in the moments when she had to be."
Â
After the goal, Chattanooga had to fight a determined UAB offense that tried even the match with four shots before the end of regulation. However, UTC managed to keep the ball out of the net as time ran out.
Â
"We were under siege the last 10 minutes or so," McKinney said of the Blazer effort. "We still stayed strong and found a way to squeak out a 1-nil."
Â
In a very aggressive game, the Mocs were issued four yellow cards while UAB was yellow-carded once in the first half and then drew a red in a collision with Shields late in the match that saw the Mocs' keeper assisted off the pitch.
Â
Chattanooga remains at home to host Georgia State Sunday, August 22 at the UTC Sports Complex. The match is set to kick off at 6:00 p.m.
Â
Â
