BIRMINGHAM – The UAB men’s soccer team looks to open the fall 2020 season with a road win as they travel to Conway, Ark. to face Central Arkansas on Saturday afternoon.
The Blazers’ squad returns 20 players from a season ago with six seniors: Joseph Buete, Aodhán O’Hara, Sumner Richardson, Donovan Watson, Krenar Krasniqi and Grayson Dupont. UAB brings in a handful of new talent with 13 newcomers including 10 freshmen, two transfers and one walk-on. One of the biggest off-season pickups for the Green and Gold came in junior transfer Mason Robicheaux who started all 19 of his matches at Appalachian State in 2019 and earned Sun Belt All-Tournament Team honors.
After going 3-12-2 in his first season at the helm, head coach Jeff Kinney expects to see improvement from his squad in 2020.
“I expect the guys to show some leadership qualities that I don’t think we really had. I think the team will be more competitive,” said Kinney. “I thought we did a good job of bringing in a good solid freshman class that some guys will have a chance to jump in and help us right away. Our expectation needs to be competitive in every single game and when we go into conference play in the spring, we need to be prepared to be in the top half of the conference.”
UAB returns its top four leading scorers from a season ago in Blake White, Grayson Dupont, Joseph Buete and Aodhán O’Hara. They also return the top two leaders in minutes played in Donovan Watson and Krenar Krasniqi.
The Blazers will face a Central Arkansas team that went 10-7-1 in 2019 including 7-2-1 at home. While the Bears graduated their top goal scorer Niklas Brodaki, they return their second leading scorer, senior Soren Jensen, who had six goals and seven assists in 2019. UCA also graduated their goalkeeper Marc Olsen, who started 17 of 18 games for the Bears recording 38 saves and three shutouts. The Bears are projected to finish first in the Sun Belt in 2020 and landed three players on the Preseason All-Conference team including Jensen and defenders Alberto Suarez and Edoardo Calzola.
“We are excited to have an opportunity to play against an opponent at this point,” said Kinney. “UCA has been one of the best teams out of the Sun Belt over the last few years and are favorites to win the league again having finished first in the regular season last year. It will be a tough match out of the gates, but we are excited to see where we are this early in the season.”
UAB will be on the road for its first five matches of the season with stops at ACC powerhouses Clemson and Wake Forest before opening at home on Tuesday, Oct. 13 against Georgia State.
Continue to check UABSports.com for updates and information on the 2020 fall schedule as dates and times are subject to change.
*Despite fall championships being pushed to spring of 2021 all fall games will count towards UAB’s overall 2020-21 season record as per NCAA.
Men’s soccer season tickets are on sale by purchasing the 2020-21 Gold Card for $65 here. The Gold Card is an exclusive offer that grants you admission into all UAB men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball events for the upcoming academic year. Contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 for more details.
For more information on the UAB men’s soccer team, follow @UAB_MSoc on Twitter and Instagram.
