The Memphis Tigers Lacrosse team hopes to seize the opportunity to secure a spot in the Midwest/Deep South Conference Tournament with their inner-conference matchup with Mississippi State on Saturday at the University of Memphis intramural fields.
The Tigers (3-5) will host both the Bulldogs and Louisville in the Memphis Tigers Invitational.
Despite a losing record, head coach Garrett Wimberly has been pleased with his team's performance thus far this season.
"The lacrosse team is doing well this season," Wimberly said. "We had our strongest schedule in the club's history with 11 games, featuring opponents like Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Rhodes, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Louisville."
The Tigers lost to the Bulldogs during the fall season, but Mississippi State graduated some of their key players since last semester. Tigers' senior attackman Ben Jenkins said it should be a good matchup with the Bulldogs, but he has confidence in his squad.
A strong core of seniors anchors the Memphis attack. Midfielder Justin King and attackman Nick Thomas help lead the young Memphis squad alongside Jenkins.
Wimberly added that the team also relies on some strong freshmen, who are getting better with each game.
"Our team has a lot of leadership right now," Wimberly said. "But we also have some amazing freshman, who are on the rise."
Midfielder Brett James, goalie Tyler Summer and midfielder Dylan Fisher have been making an impact as freshmen.
Jenkins, a graduate student who studies math, said that implementing the freshmen into the Tigers' scheme has been a challenge all season.
"There has been some games where we could've been better," Jenkins said. "We have a lot of freshman playing, and it's a big jump from high school to college. Everyone is so much bigger, smarter and faster because they've all been playing longer."
The biggest struggle for the Tigers has come in transition. Wimberly wants to see improvement on that side of the ball, but he likes the way the Tigers have executed when being up a man, meaning the other team is missing a player due to a penalty.
"Some areas we need to work on is transition," he said. "We have a hard time clearing the ball up field. We are very young on that side of the ball, but we are really good man up. We score the majority of our goals when we are man up."
The lacrosse team is not a school-sponsored sport in the same way as the basketball team or football team. The team functions as a club at the U of M, but it can't use the University's official logo or name.
The U of M allots the club a small Registered Student Organization fund, but most of the team's budget comes from fees paid by the players.
They buy their own gear and carpool to away games, but that hasn't slowed them down from competing for a conference championship.
A win over Mississippi State would give the Tigers one of two automatic qualifier spots, earning them a place in the National College Lacrosse League National Tournament at Rutgers University.
This weekend's tournament is the first step in Memphis' road to Rutgers. The Memphis Tigers Invitational kicks off at 11 a.m. with two high school games before the Tigers take the field at 3 p.m. to face the Bulldogs. Louisville faces off with Mississippi State right after, and the Tigers close out the day with a matchup against the Cardinals.
