The University of Memphis women’s soccer team is 12-1 after they collected two more wins over the weekend, keeping their NCAA tournament hopes strong. They beat American Athletic Conference foes Houston 4-0 and SMU 2-1.
The No. 12/18 Tigers have won all four of their AAC games so far this season. They are also the second-best scoring offense in the nation with 2.92 goals per game, and sophomore goalkeeper Elizabeth Moberg leads the nation with 10 shutouts.
The Tigers traveled to Houston (6-7-2) and came away with a solid win last Thursday. They scored two goals in each half from freshman forward Tanya Boychuck, junior midfielder Jessica Lisi, sophomore forward Samantha Murphy and senior forward Marie Levasseur. Sophomore forward Clarissa Larisey also earned two assists during the game.
“From the first whistle, you could tell the group was 100 percent focused,” head coach Brooks Monaghan said.
Brooks also mentioned putting pressure on the other team was key in this match and in all games so far this season.
“What’s given us the most success is when we are not allowing teams to do things that they are good at,” Monaghan said. “With the pressure we’ve been putting on these teams, it put them out of their rhythm.”
The Houston defense was on high alert with 10 saves against the Tigers, who had a season-high 34 shots with 14 on goal.
Monaghan said he has a team that knows not to underestimate any opponent, especially in the AAC.
“In this league, everybody is capable of beating everybody,” Monaghan said. “But everyone is good enough to beat you on any given day if you don’t bring your best.”
The Tigers were reminded of that statement Sunday as they came back to beat SMU (8-5-1). Though the Tigers were down in the first half, they managed to win 2-1. Desperate for a conference win after losing against both Tulsa and ECU, SMU scored an early goal in the 10th minute.
“It was a do-or-die game for SMU,” Monaghan said. “They outworked us a bit in the first half, and we had a gut check in halftime.”
The halftime talk produced instant results during the second half of the game, as the Tigers went on to earn five corner kicks, and the fifth corner was when senior forward Elizabeth Woener deflected the ball into the net in the 55th minute. Only five minutes passed before Murphy lured the keeper out of the net, and Larisey scored. It was Larisey’s eighth goal of the season, and it was enough for Memphis to get the comeback win.
The team heads back to Memphis this Thursday and Sunday to face UCF (6-4-1) and USF (8-2), respectively.
“We’ve got our hands full this weekend,” Monaghan said. “We can’t afford to start a game slow against an opponent like UCF and USF.”
USF could be a handful for the Tigers, as the Bulls have Evelyne Viens, who is second in the nation with 29 points as of now.
Memphis kicks off against UCF on Thursday at 7 p.m. and against USF on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be at Mike Rose Soccer Complex.
Elizabeth Moberg does her best vertical jump to secure the ball in the air. Moberg leads the nation in shutouts with 10.
