After winning three straight games, Memphis men’s soccer carried their momentum to an upset win over 9th ranked Charlotte 1-0 at home. This moves Memphis into a great position to win their first AAC title and reach a 3rd consecutive NCAA Tournament.
“It proves that we are where we need to be,” said Memphis midfielder Ryan Ruguaru. “We deserve to be here.”
After an initial drive by Charlotte, Memphis had their first scoring opportunity early with a 2nd minute corner kick taken by Lleyton Imparato. It was quickly cleared by the 49ers as the Tigers looked to establish their style of play.
This led to a very sluggish series of possessions that followed as both teams looked to wear the other out defensively. Over the next 12 minutes, only two shots were attempted, an 8th minute header by Memphis’ Gabriel Christensen and a 14th minute strike by Imparato for the Tigers. Both were easily saved by Charlotte’s keeper Leo Stritter.
Memphis did not allow Charlotte to do anything whatsoever offensively, defending the midfield line very well. When the 49ers inevitably went on the offensive with a corner kick in the 26th minute, Memphis played pesky defense and denied the scoring opportunity.
The Tigers’ Adam Yousfi finally generated a great look to score in the 42nd, but Charlotte turned it away. Charlotte responded with a 43rd minute failed corner kick, as the half ended in a scoreless tie. The two teams combined for only 8 shots and 5 corner kicks.
In an effort to change the pace, Charlotte’s Daire McCarthy quickly got a great shot on goal only a minute after the break. The shot would fly just over the net.
Memphis responded by drilling a 51st minute shot by Yousfi in the lower left corner to break the stalemate and put the Tigers on top.
Charlotte continued to play a very aggressive offense to quickly equalize, but the Tigers stifled this phenomenally by only allowing a single errant shot attempt for almost 20 minutes.
Charlotte would continue to take a mile for every inch Memphis gave, but the Tigers’ defense proved as stingy as could be. Two quick 70th minute attempts by the 49ers only found air high of the goal and Memphis started playing the clock.
The 49ers got a chance to tie in the 77th minute with a corner kick, but they were unable to get a shot on goal. A yellow card on Memphis’ Dino Stavros granted a free kick for Charlotte that also missed everything.
The offense became frantic for the visitors as time started to wind down. The Tigers denied a flurry of late shot attempts, and Memphis locked up the upset over the top 10 49ers.
Ruguaru, when asked about the phenomenal second half defense, said that the Tigers wanted to “go all in” on that side of the ball after Yousfi scored what was the deciding goal.
Memphis tries for five victories in a row as they travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple next Saturday.
