Huskers Torch Blazers, 4-0

Lincoln - The Nebraska soccer team scored three goals in a 7:41 stretch late in the first half, including a pair of goals from freshman Aysha Jamani, in a dominant 4-0 win over UAB (1-1-0) Sunday at the Nebraska Soccer Field.

The win capped an excellent opening weekend for the Huskers (2-0-0). On Friday, NU defeated Minnesota 3-1 to outscore its first two opponents, 7-1.

Nebraska Head Coach John Walker was pleased with the victory over a UAB squad that advanced to the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

"It was a good performance overall," Walker said. "In the first half, we were very dominant. I thought we corrected a few things from Friday. We had great leadership from our older players."

In addition to Jamani, fellow freshman Jamie Klages, making her collegiate debut, recorded two saves while posting the first shutout of her career. Klages faced only four shots - and only two on goal - as the Huskers controlled the game from start to finish. For the game, NU finished with 27 shots, including 17 on goal, the most since Sept. 21 of last year.

Jamani scored at 36:50 in the first half when junior Brittany Timko headed the ball to Jamani, who capped a long run by splitting two defenders and beating UAB goalkeeper Katie Forbis one-on-one. Timko struck again 2:33 later when she won a foot race to the ball after a long pass from freshman Lauren Isenhower and beat the keeper to put NU up 2-0.

In the 45th minute, just 29 seconds before halftime, Jamani struck for the second time, scoring on an unassisted goal to give Nebraska a 3-0 halftime advantage. Jamani found a loose ball in the box and sent a shot on goal where a Blazers' defender got a leg on the ball, but could not keep it from finding the back of the net. For the game, Jamani attempted eight shots, including five on goal, which ranks eighth in single-game school history.

In the dominating first-half effort, NU took 15 shots to only two from UAB, forcing Forbis to make six saves, while Klages needed to make only one diving save.

In the second half, junior Nikki Baker notched her second goal of the season at the 53:15 mark. Junior Tanya Dennis played a beautiful ball to Baker, who spun and beat Forbis low for the goal.

In the second half, every available position player saw the field. Five Huskers, including Klages, made their collegiate debut in the win and 10 of the Huskers' 11 freshmen have seen game action in their first weekend of play at the Division I level.

Nebraska heads on the road for the first time next Friday when the Huskers travel to Champaign, Ill., to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini at 7 p.m. (CST).