Tigers Fall to No. 1 SMU on Senior Day

Saturday, October 21

Memphis, Tenn.

2:00 PM

University of Memphis

9-6-0

#1 SMU (Alumni Weekend)

14-0-3

SMU

Memphis

The Tigers honored senior Jamie Gilbert prior to the Saturday's game.

Oct 21, 2006 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Oct. 21, 2006

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The second largest crowd in Memphis soccer history turned out to watch the Tigers host No. 1 SMU on Senior Day. However, the Tigers were unable to capitalize on their home field advantage as the Mustangs picked up the 3-0 win. The Tigers lost their first home conference match and fall to 9-6-0 (2-4-0 in C-USA). Meanwhile, SMU remains undefeated at 14-0-3 (4-0-2 in C-USA).

The mood was festive early on as a crowd of 823 fans, the second largest crowd in school history, turned out to see the Tigers honor defender Jaime Gilbert on senior day. The Tigers drew 923 on Sept. 1 when No. 5 Clemson came to Memphis for the home opener. The Tigers home attendance now stands at 3,608, which surpasses the previous record of 3,066 set in 2003. However, the Tigers were unable to carry over that emotion into the match.

"I thought the crowd was great today," Grant said. "I think they were really trying to help us get back in the game later on, unfortunately we just couldn't make it happen. I really want to thank them and hope they're back on Wednesday because we need that win and it should be a great game."

The first half started as a defensive struggle as neither team could break through early on. The Tigers fired three shots and SMU launched four on net in the opening 20 minutes. However, SMU was finally able to capitalize on a scoring chance when Ryan Mirsky lobbed a shot from 30 yards out over the Tiger defense and into the back of the net for his first goal of the season to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.

Memphis came back on the attack and had two good scoring opportunities after a pair of substitutions. Junior midfielder Kevin Walsh came off the bench a took a pass from midfield and beat one defender. Unfortunately for the Tigers, SMU goalkeeper Matt Wideman dove to his right to make an impressive save in the 30th minute.

"That was our best chance of the day," head coach Richie Grant said. "Kevin did a great job getting control of that ball off of his chest and almost scored. Unfortunately, you have to credit their goalkeeper. That was a great save. We had some chances and we created well, but you have to give credit to SMU. They're showing everyone why they're such a good team."

Freshman forward Grant Wise had the Tigers best opportunity of the first half after junior forward Jared Britcher and freshman forward Brian Farrell worked two quick passes through traffic to find Wise down the right side of the box. However, Wise's shot was blocked by an SMU defender.

The Tiger defense shut down the Mustangs the rest of the half, but the Tigers finished the first 45 minutes trailing 1-0.

The second half began with SMU on the attack. However, the Tiger defense turned away three shots in the first 15 minutes of the second half to keep Memphis within one goal.

The Tigers had another scoring chance when Britcher drew a foul down the left side, and Walsh drove the ensuing free kick toward the net. However, once again, an SMU defender was there to head the ball out of the box with 30 minutes to play.

SMU broke through the Tiger defense again with 27 minutes left. Chase Wileman notched his 5th goal of the season to put the Mustangs up 2-0.

The Mustangs went ahead 3-0 with just over 15 minutes left. Goodlett saved a Wileman penalty kick, but Wileman took control of the rebound and scored his second goal of the game.

The Tigers will return to action on Wednesday when they conclude their 2006 home schedule by hosting the Marshall Thundering Herd at 7:00 p.m.

"The game with Marshall is vital now," Grant said. "We're in a position where we need to win on Wednesday night. We need to bounce back quickly and be ready like we have all season after our losses. The advantage today was we were able to get a lot of our bench in late, so we should be fresh for Marshall."

Memphis Man of the Match - Brian Farrell- "I thought Brian did a magnificent job today," Grant said. "He was tireless in his work up front like he always is. He had a couple of long range strikes and was unlucky on a shot that went across the face of the net. His energy and commitment today was commendable."