To the average person, the Memphis men’s soccer team’s preseason probably looks like something of a disaster. But to coach Richard Mulrooney, the three games were valuable opportunities that gave him and the rest of the coaching staff a much better idea of what they have with this year’s squad than what they knew going in.
Purely from a results perspective, the preseason was not kind to the University of Memphis.
The Tigers first allowed Jefferson College, a Missouri community college, to rally from a two-goal deficit to draw Memphis 2-2, the U of M followed that performance up with a 2-0 defeat to Division II Mississippi College. Memphis wrapped up its set of exhibitions with a 1-1 draw on the road at Lipscomb on Sunday.
For the Tigers, these games served as more of an evaluation process for freshmen and other newcomers. The information learned is more important than the final score line.
“These games were priceless for me,” Mulrooney said. “Yes, the results didn’t go our way, but we weren’t playing for the results. If we were, I would’ve pretty much had our starting lineup out all three games which would’ve been very, very not beneficial for us because injuries come up, I don’t get to see the freshmen play, (etc.).”
Mulrooney gave the team’s freshmen plenty of playing time in the team’s three exhibition games, and noted that midfielder David Adams, forward Julio Vargas and right back Jabari Newton were particularly impressive among the newcomers.
Sophomore forward Hector Cantele was the team’s leading goalscorer in 2014, and looks to already be in form for the upcoming season.
In the team’s first preseason game against Jefferson College Cantele put the ball in the back of the net twice in the first half before being subbed off.
In addition to showcasing the play of some of the incoming freshmen, the preseason games also exposed a weakness that the Tigers are still working to correct: defense.
Memphis conceded goals in each of the three contests, although sometimes this was due more to simple mistakes.
Against Jefferson College the Tigers mostly did an excellent job of keeping their opponent from getting opportunities inside the box, but then bad giveaways and defensive lapses resulted in Jefferson College scoring on a 35-yard rocket in the first half and an easy tap-in in the 88th minute.
“Bad stuff happens when you don’t take care of the ball, and if an individual does that you can have the best defense in the world and you’re still gonna cough goals up,” Mulrooney said. “We want to become a unit that if somebody does slip up we always say, ‘expect the unexpected,’ and if something does happen there’s cover for him.”
The Tigers will need to correct these mistakes sooner rather than later, with Friday’s season opener against UAB right around the corner. The two former Conference USA rivals opened the season against each other in Birmingham last year.
The Blazers punched the Tigers in the gut right out of the gate, going up 3-0 in the opening half. Memphis ultimately fell 3-1. UAB is a perennial contender in C-USA and made a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and will give the Tigers a difficult test in the season opener.
“They’re just a well-oiled machine,” Mulrooney said of the Blazers. “If we don’t come out and start off within the first minute, we could find ourselves down again two or three to zero in the first half.
Obviously we’re looking to correct our mistakes from last year, but they have the talent to do that and they also have the talent to stop you from scoring.”
Memphis and UAB will square off Friday evening at Mike Rose Soccer Complex. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Junior midfielder Raul Gonzalez led the men’s soccer team in assists with six last season.
