All to Play For on Senior Day

Saturday, October 31

Memphis, Tenn.

1:00 PM CT

University of Memphis

Tulsa

Tickets

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Oct 29, 2015 | Men's Soccer

Memphis hosts Tulsa in regular-season finale Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

WHAT: Match 16
WHO: Tulsa at Memphis
WHEN: 1 p.m. CT, Oct. 31, 2015
WATCH: Memphis Tiger Network
STATS: StatBroadcast
TWITTER: @MemphisMSoccer

The Memphis Tigers know exactly what will be at stake when they take the field of Mike Rose Soccer Complex for the regular season finale against Tulsa Saturday at 1:00 p.m. If the Tigers win and other results break their way, they could see themselves hosting a quarterfinal match of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on November 7.

"We know what's on the line," Memphis head coach Richard Mulrooney said. "We have a chance to get the third or fourth spot and host a game or we could end up travelling back to UConn, Temple or some other place. There's a ton of scenarios but we know if we take care of our own business it gives us a better opportunity to host that game."

Two points separate third place from eighth place in the conference standings with one match left to play. SMU and USF stand alone at the top of the table and will both be vying for the league title Saturday. The remaining teams – UConn, Tulsa, UCF, Temple, Cincinnati and Memphis – could finish as high as third or as low as eighth.

Saturday will be the final home match for four Memphis seniors, Giovanni Alvarado, Austin Stone, Quincy Thomas and Cody Uzcategui.

A member of the Memphis soccer program for five seasons, Alvarado has been a part of teams that compiled 44 total wins since 2011. A Guadalajara, Mexico native, he scored his first collegiate goal in last season's 4-0 win over nationally ranked St. Louis. A graduate of local Kingsbury high school in Memphis, he was an all-state player and brought a state championship to the program.

Stone has been a three-year starter and a four-year player in the Memphis Tigers' defense. The Alcoa, Tenn., native has started every match this season and now has 34 career starts and 43 overall appearances in a Memphis uniform. The Memphis defense has posted 15 shutouts with him on the field over the last three seasons. Stone earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in 2013 and has compiled a 3.34 GPA as a mechanical engineering major.

Thomas has played and started in nearly every match since he arrived on the University of Memphis campus in 2012. The Mohnton, Pa. native will be playing in his 70th career match today, making his 66th start. Playing primarily as a defender, Thomas has chipped in two goals and four assists in his career. The finance major has posted a 3.39 overall GPA and is a nominee for Acadamic All-America this season.

Uzcategui took over as the starting goalkeeper for the final four games of his freshman season and has started 45 career matches in net for Memphis. The Orlando, Fla. product has compiled more than 4,000 minutes in goal and totaled 135 career saves. An outstanding student, he has already completed a BBA in accounting with a 3.82 GPA and is currently pursuing a masters of science in accounting. Last season he was named the winner of the 2014-15 American Athletic Conference Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarship.

Tulsa (6-6-3, 2-3-2 AAC) and UConn tied, 1-1, last week and the two teams remained tied for third place in the league standings. The Golden Hurricane has spread the scoring around this season with 12 players finding the back of the net. Juan Sanchez leads the team with five goals and Geoffrey Dee is second with four goals.

Regardless of the results on Saturday, the league's quarterfinal matches will be played Nov. 7 at campus sites. The winners of those matches will advance to the semifinals, which will be played at USF's Corbett Soccer Stadium in Tampa, Fla., Nov. 13. The final is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1:00 p.m.