The Memphis Women's soccer team has continued to win, taking their last five games.
The team is ranked No. 17 and is tied for first place in the conference standings. Memphis (7-1, 5-0 AAC) has already defeated five of the eight other teams in the American Athletic Conference.
Following up on the success against their AAC opponents, the Tigers pulled off one of the highlight wins of the season against Vanderbilt. The Commodores (9-5, 7-4 SEC) were ranked No. 6 in the country. The Tigers took down Vandy in a 3-2 match that went to overtime.
Memphis scored the first two goals of the game and led 2-0 after the 72nd minute. Mya Jones scored the first one in the 61st minute and Haylee Spray got the second goal early in the 72nd minute.
Vanderbilt responded with two goals in the 76th and the 87th minute. The game was tied at 2-2 and went into extra time. The Tigers could thank Tanya Boychuk for the final goal of the game and Mya Jones for the assist.
One statistic that stood out was how Memphis greatly outshot Vanderbilt, 22-8. This was the program's first-ever win over a Top-ten opponent.
The AAC domination
The Tigers are one of the two undefeated teams in the AAC. Memphis has won all five conference matches and has two more scheduled. The Tigers tore down Tulsa, UCF, Houston, Cincinnati and Temple. Memphis has outscored AAC opponents 8-1. Memphis held their opponents scoreless in four games of their five previous AAC games.
The American Athletic Conference has honored several Memphis players for their success. Spray was named to the AAC Women's Soccer Honor Roll. Boychuk was the AAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week after the win against Vanderbilt.
After the Tigers defeated Temple 2-1, they collected three of the weekly AAC awards. Spray was named the AAC Rookie of the Week, Smit was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week and Lisa Pechersky was named to the AAC Honor Roll. Back on March 15, Claire Abrey and Mya Jones were named to the AAC Honor Roll after beating Houston. Another accolade includes Kimberley Smit being named to the Top Drawer Team of the Week.
The short road ahead
The last two games of the season are currently set for a trip USF and a season finale against ECU in Memphis. The only team in the AAC that Memphis has not played is SMU following the postponed match from February 28.
South Florida is the other team tied for first place in the AAC standings. The Bulls (6-0-1, 3-0 AAC) have not played the Tigers yet. However, these two teams are scheduled for April 3. The winner of this game takes first place in the conference standings. No other team in the AAC is undefeated in their conference matches.
Memphis then hosts ECU in their season-finale. The Pirates (2-4-2, 2-2-2 AAC) are fourth in the conference standings.
Regardless of the final score in the USF game, Memphis is a shoe-in for the AAC conference playoffs. The AAC playoffs are set for April 16 and 18.
The Tigers are on a five-game win-streak after toppling Vanderbilt, taking down their first top-ten team in program history.
