University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Southeast Missouri
Lady Tigers Pick Up First Home Win Against SEMO
Sep 14, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 14, 2006
MEMPHIS,Tenn. - The Memphis women's soccer team picked up its first home win of 2006 Thursday night, shutting out Southeast Missouri 2-0 at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. Lady Tiger midfielder Melissa Savage broke the match open 16 minutes into the second half, knocking in a Shoko Mikami corner kick to give Memphis its first home goal of the season.
The Lady Tigers (4-3) were shut out in their first two home matches of 2006, despite managing 17 goals in their four road contests. Memphis head coach Brooks Monaghan said the team had discussed its play coming off a 3-0 loss to Ole Miss.
"We talked about how we were performing, and I think we all agreed that we were underachieving as a team," said Monaghan. "We decided that we would look at this game as the beginning of a new season. The team came out tonight and responded with a complete effort."
In the first half, Memphis ran into familiar scoring issues. Despite spending the majority of the first half banging the ball near the Redhawk net, the Lady Tigers were simply unable to score a goal.
Memphis took 11 shots in the first period, put eight on goal and just missed knocking in multiple crossing passes. Meanwhile, SEMO was unable to mount any kind of an attack on the Lady Tigers, who played stingy defense all night. Memphis allowed the Redhawks only one shot in the entire first period.
The second half began with much the same tempo until Savage broke open the seesaw battle, knocking in the corner from Mikami, which was deflected to her by Memphis freshman Eliza Wellford.
Nine minutes later, forward Geneil Newbern gave Memphis an insurance goal, slamming home a shot from the top left corner of the box. The goal was Newbern's second of the season.
"I thought our midfield play was particularly good tonight, and that was something that we wanted to see improve," Monaghan said. "Every girl who went into the match tonight contributed to the team, and that is what we need in order to be successful."
The final stat line reflected Memphis' domination of the action. Offensively, Memphis outshot SEMO 23 to six. The Lady Tigers were equally tough on defense, denying the Redhawks every time they tried to counter. Memphis goalkeeper Isabel Briones earned the 10th shutout of her career and made several key stops.
Memphis will look to start a home winning streak Sunday, when it host the University of Arkansas at 1 p.m.
