UAH (0-0-1) vs. Lincoln Memorial (0-1-0)
2013 Home Opener - First Night Game on Campus
Charger Park - Huntsville, Ala. - 7 p.m.
Live Stats: uahchargers.com
About the Chargers
LET THERE BE LIGHT: The University of Alabama in Huntsville soccer programs will play the first-ever night games on campus on Sunday night when Lincoln Memorial visits. With lights being erected at the Charger Park pitch during the offseason, the entire facility is now able to host contests after sunset. The Chargers are slated to host five contests under the stars this year.
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IMMEDIATE IMPACT: In the team's season-opening 1-1 draw at Trevecca Nazarene on Thursday night, a trio of newcomers made their presence in the Blue and White felt right away. Junior transfer Yuri Ivanov recorded the first goal of the season for the Chargers, and he was assisted by freshman Hermann Bjornsson who also just missed on earning a score of his own late in the game. Strong in his collegiate debut, freshman keeper Will Carpenter made five stops including an impressive save that helped preserve the tie in the first period of extra time.
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DEFENDING THE HOME PITCH: The Chargers will be looking to buck the trend that the team has set over the past five seasons in which the squad is 1-4 in the side's first game of the year in the Rocket City, and UAH will also look to return to its 2011 form when it posted a strong 8-2 mark at home. A season ago, the Chargers were winless in Huntsville.
About the Opponent
LAST TIME OUT: Lincoln Memorial also played on overtime game in its first game of the season, but the Railsplitters fell 3-2 to Eckerd at Montevallo on Thursday. LMU posted a 2-0 lead at the half as Mario Pinto – the reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year – scored the first strike before assisting on the second.
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LEADING THE WAY: Pinto scored 21 times last season and assisted on five other goals to total 47 points, and seven of his goals were game-winners. Marcel Barwanietz returns for his second year in goal for LMU, and he entered the year with the program's best-ever save percentage at .803. Against the Chargers last year, he turned away five of the six shots that reached his target.
Series History
UAH holds a 12-8 advantage in the all-time series with the Railsplitters as the teams meet for the 21st time, but the series has been heavily tilted towards LMU of late as the last six meetings have been won by Sunday's guests. The Chargers opened the season in Harrogate, Tenn., last year and fell 2-1.
Kyle Simmons scored the lone goal for the Blue and White.
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