The American University men's soccer team generated several scoring chances, including three shots off the post, but settled for a scoreless draw on Tuesday afternoon against Alabama-Birmingham at Reeves Field. Freshman Billy Knutsen played all 110 minutes in goal for AU, earning his first-career shutout.

American (6-7-2, 3-1-1 Patriot League) was consistently on the attack, beginning in the first half when AU generated a good early chance off a Colin Seigfreid shot, which was saved by UAB goalkeeper Tucker Stone. Later in the half, Jamie Davin fed a corner kick to Jack Scott, who hit the crossbar with his shot from close-range.

After a scoreless first half, the Eagles continued to pressure early in the second period. American earned its first chance when a corner kick was sent out of the offensive zone to Tyler Collins. The freshman gathered the ball, and proceeded to fire a rocket shot from 35 yards out, which nailed the crossbar before getting cleared.

In the 61st minute, UAB (8-5-1, 2-3 Conference USA) generated its best scoring opportunity of the match when Babayele Sodade got behind the AU defense, and flicked a shot over a drawn-out Knutsen. Sodade's shot, however, went just wide left.

The Eagles continued to push ahead in the second half, and nearly took the lead in the 76th minute when Davin made a fantastic interior move in traffic, although his shot clipped the right post. Late in the half, Scott again had a chance for AU, but his header off a cross missed just wide right.

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The match headed to two 10-minute overtime sessions, where UAB earned its best scoring chance in the extra time when Joshua Stewart sent a shot wide right in the 101st minute of the match. The Eagles also had a chance in the second overtime when Chris Kuramoto fed a deep pass to a streaking Scott, although he was unable to gain control as Stone came out and covered it up.

"Our focus was team defending, trying to keep a clean sheet, which we did today," commented Head Coach Todd West. "Our hope is to create chances to win the game, which we did when we hit two crossbars and a post. When you keep doing the right things, wins are going to take care of themselves." 

American outshot the Blazers by a decisive 20-11 margin in the match, which included a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal. The Eagles earned seven corner kicks to five for UAB.

Davin led AU with a game-high five shots, two of which were on target. Three out of Nick Kapus' four shots were on goal, while Scott added three shots. In goal for AU, Knutsen recorded four saves to earn his first-career shutout.

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, October 27 when they host Patriot League foe Holy Cross in the regular season home finale. Match time is slated for 1 p.m., and all the action can be watched live on Eagles Vision TV, part of AUeagles.com.

Additionally, prior to Saturday's match, American's five senior student-athletes – Davin, Jon Freimark, Kapus, David Menzie, and Worden – will be honored in a "Senior Day" ceremony.