Although the University of Memphis men’s soccer team (7-5-4, 2-3-1 American Athletic Conference) lost 1-2 against No. 12/13 Central Florida (11-2-2, 4-1-1 AAC), they arguably played their best game of the year. As it was Senior Day, seniors David Zalzman, the team captain, and Mason Morise were honored. The Tigers’ best play came in the second half after a disastrous first half by the Tigers.
“It was a tale of two halves,” head coach Richard Mulrooney said. “I’ve never seen us play as bad as we did in the first half, individually and as a team.”
UCF’s two goals came within the first eight minutes of the game after defensive errors. The Knights were led by Cal Jennings, the nation’s second-leading goal scorer, as he scored his 19th goal in the second minute. His goal was deflected by a Memphis defender over the goalkeeper. The second goal was made after a failed clearance by the Tigers. Memphis only had three shots against UCF’s 11 shots in the first half.
The team adjusted in the second half after some early shots by UCF to start. Momentum built up after freshman goalkeeper Parker Lackland saved a difficult shot by a UCF player to run through the defense, making it a player versus player situation.
The Tigers’ much-needed goal came in the 65th minute Chris Mikus strongly finished a perfect cross by Alexandros Ierides after he dribbled past a couple of UCF defenders. Mikus said the halftime adjustments made the team come out stronger in the second half.
“When we went into halftime, [the coaches] really yelled at us,” Mikus said. “Then we came out real passionate in the second half and worked our butts off.”
After the score, Memphis flipped the switch on UCF by keeping the tempo and getting good looks on goal. UCF had seven saves in the second half after saving only one in the first. The women’s soccer team came out in full support, shouting chants like “T-I-G-E-R-S, Tigers!” and stomping the bleachers.
The Tigers came out with a barrage of shots in the final moments of the match and were mere inches away from tying the game after the UCF goalkeeper caught the ball before it broke the goal line. The comeback fell short even though they outscored the Knights 10-7 in the second half.
“I think we played a lot better than them, especially in that second half,” Zalzman said. “That’s something we’ve got to keep building on and show it next week.”
Morise, who started and had a shot in the match, talked about his time playing for Memphis and how the team has prepared for the rest of the year.
“I loved my time here,” Morise said. “We’re definitely going into the right direction.”
The night was not all bad, as the Tigers qualified for the AAC Tournament for the first time since 2015. Mulrooney said the seniors were a large factor in the team making the conference tournament this year.
“They’ve never seen it (AAC Tournament) before; I’ve never seen it before,” Mulrooney said. “It shows that they’ve done a good job leading us, and it’s not over yet.”
The Tigers now head into their final game of the regular season against South Florida in Tampa, Florida this Friday night.
David Zalzman passes the ball to initiate an attack against UCF. Zalzman captained the Tigers in his senior season.
Alexandros Ierides, 22, and Mason Morise, center, look for the ball on the Memphis counterattack. Ierides had an assist in the 1-2 loss against UCF on Senior Day.
