Memphis Women’s Soccer took their dominance to new heights, taking 24 shots in a 4-0 blowout of Temple. This win extends their current win streak to four in a row and places them in the front of the pack in the AAC.
As the game got underway, an early foul by Temple in the 2nd minute set up a free kick and a pair of corner kicks by Memphis. While none of them resulted in points, Memphis established their usual style of aggressive play very early in this contest.
Memphis was able to dominate the positioning battle early, not allowing Temple to pass the ball anywhere near the midfield line. The result of this dominance was Ai Kitagawa earning the Tigers a 13th minute corner kick, the 3rd of the game, which was converted into a goal by Memphis’ Izzy Monck.
Even after the goal, Temple was not able to do anything on offense as the Tigers got multiple shot attempts that were only inches from the net. The last of which found Ai Kitagawa wide open in the goalie box to put Memphis up 2-0 in less than 20 minutes.
The Tigers were absolutely relentless, taking three shots and two corners in the five minutes since Kitagawa’s goal in the 19th minute. Temple finally generated a semblance of offense in the 30th after forcing a handball by Memphis, but Memphis keeper Kaylie Bierman handled the chance with ease.
As the half winded down, Memphis started going for the throat by earning two corners and two shot attempts in four minutes. Most were denied by Temple keeper Tamsin Boye, the AAC leader in saves.
After this flurry, Temple tried to create anything positive offensively, but Memphis shut it down.
The Tigers picked up right where they left off at the break, taking three shots right at the goal in the span of less than two minutes. Temple was left suffocated in their own defensive third of the field as Memphis just kept knocking on the door of a blowout.
Temple would withstand this furious assault by the Tigers by responding with three shot attempts in the 52nd and 54th minutes, more shots than Temple generated the entire first half. None of these had a chance, but the Owls finally found something on offense.
Memphis answered with their 10th corner kick in the game. Shortly after, Maddie Eskin would be set up beautifully by Kitagawa to put a third ball in the net for the Tigers in the 59th minute.
Temple finally generated a chance to stop the bleeding in the 65th minute with their first corner kick of the game. Memphis held firm and denied the Owls from putting anything in the goal.
The Tigers pelted Temple with shot attempts and pressure while time ticked away. Freshman Natalie Libel found her first career goal in the 86th minute, putting the cherry on top of a dominant Tiger win.
Memphis goes for five in a row back home against East Carolina.
