The University of Memphis women’s soccer team opens the spring season on Feb. 24 with an away challenge at the University of Alabama. The spring schedule consists of seven total matches, with four at the Park Avenue Campus and two at Mike Rose Soccer Complex.
The spring season will have the same level of competition the Tigers are accustomed to in the regular season. Memphis will face four SEC opponents: Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.
In the 2017 regular season, those four SEC teams scored a combined 148 goals and won a total of 43 matches. Ole Miss had the third-best scoring offense in the NCAA. The Rebels averaged 2.7 goals per contest. Vanderbilt advanced the farthest out of the four teams, going to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.
The Tigers will also face Toronto Blizzard Soccer Club in the second match of the spring season. Toronto Blizzard runs training programs designed to prepare athletes for the level of competition in collegiate soccer. The organization sends alumni of their academy to NCAA Division I programs every year. Memphis’ own Jessica Lisi, Mikayla Morton, Samantha Murphy and Taylor Johnston all are alumni of Toronto Blizzard Soccer Club. The club plays about 12 matches peryear against Division I schools across the nation.
Following the Alabama match this weekend, Memphis will have a break between matches before they face the Toronto Blizzard on March 18 at the Park Avenue Campus.
Memphis plays Ole Miss on March 27 at Mike Rose Soccer Complex about a week later. They face Vanderbilt on April 8 at the Park Avenue Campus.
In the second-to-last match day of the spring season on April 14, Memphis will compete in two. First they will face Southeast Missouri State and then Mississippi State.
The Tigers conclude the spring season with a match at Mike Rose Soccer Complex on April 17 against UT Martin.
Head Coach Brooks Monaghan and the Tigers have 18 players listed on the spring roster. The team is a young bunch, with only five upperclassmen. The Tigers squad has five juniors: forwards Elizabeth Woerner, Chanel Hudson-Marks, Catherine Levassuer, Marie Levassuer and defender Olivia Gauthier. The group combined for 90 starts, 21 goals and 16 total assists in the 2017 fall season.
Jessica Lisi takes a shot with her left foot. She set a school record in assists her freshman season
Olivia Gauthier plants her foot and clears the ball. She is one of five upperclassmen on the team this upcoming season.
