First-year head coach Richard Mulrooney and the University of Memphis men’s soccer team reached the halfway mark in its season with a 1-0 shutout win over Central Arkansas on Tuesday.
The Tigers opened up conference play at Central Florida on Sept. 27, pulling out a tie in two periods of extra time.
Memphis shifts its focus entirely to AAC play for the remainder of the season except for a short road trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Oct. 15-17, featuring a match against Oral Roberts.
Mulrooney said the Tigers will take a tie at UCF, but they want to make sure to start American play strong with a win against Connecticut at Mike Rose Soccer Complex on Saturday.
It’s very important (to get off to good start in conference play),” Mulrooney said. “UConn’s history speaks for itself. We just have to concentrate on ourselves and get that first win in conference. It would be huge to do that against UConn.”
The Blue and Gray (5-2-2, 0-0-1 AAC) finished last season with a 9-8-1 mark, but Mulrooney said before the season that Memphis had to do better than that. The Tigers have done just that and are poised for their best season since going 11-6-1 in 2011.
No. 15 St. Louis left Memphis with a 4-0 loss at the hands of the Tigers. Memphis rode a dazzling performance from its back defensive line for its first ranked win since beating No. 21 Charlotte last season.
After giving up 10 goals in their first four games, Mulrooney said the Tigers have made strides on the defensive side of the field.
“Our biggest improvements have been defensively,” the first-year coach said. “We gave up four against Louisville and three against UAB. We just had to get more consistent and communicate better. They’re more organized and fighting to keep the ball out of the back of the net.”
Since its first four games, the U of M allowed only four goals in seven contests. Memphis shut out its opponent in five of those matches.
The Huskies present a unique challenge for Mulrooney and company. Mulrooney said UConn have several extremely talented players who can hurt a team on their own.
“As they start playing better as a team, even though their record isn’t great, when you mix that individual effort with team chemistry they’re a very, very dangerous team,” he said.
Earlier this week, the Tigers notched a 1-0 win in Conway, Arkansas, over Central Arkansas.
Senior Fakhry Khulfan netted the winner in the 83rd minute off a deflection.
Memphis kept the UCA attack out of its penalty box, and senior keeper Cody Uzcategui only had to make one save.
Aggressiveness up the field has been a strength of the Tigers all season, according to Mulrooney. They have outshot their opponents 116-72 on the year. However, Mulrooney said he still wants to see the Tigers be more accurate and put more shots on frame.
Despite some minor mistakes that need fixing, Mulrooney said he is pleased with the progress of his team so far this season.
“I feel good about where we’re at,” he said. “I said before the season, if I saw progress as the season went on, I’d be happy with it. The mistakes we’ve been making are correctable, and the guys are continuing to fix them.”
Saturday’s contest with UConn begins at 7 p.m. at Mike Rose Soccer Complex. The first 100 fans at the game will receive a Tigers vuvuzela, which are the horns made famous by the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
