Tigers Hit the Road in Search of First Win

WHAT: Match 3
WHO: Memphis at Saint Louis
WHEN: 7 p.m. CT, Sept. 4, 2015
WATCH: Billiken TV
STATS: StatBroadcast
TWITTER: @MemphisMSoccer

WHAT: Match 4
WHO: Memphis at SIU-Edwardsville
WHEN: 1 p.m. CT, Sept. 6, 2015
WATCH: S IUEtv.com
STATS: Live Stats
TWITTER: @MemphisMSoccer

After a tough start to the season for the Memphis men's soccer team, things won't get any easier with a road match against No. 14 Saint Louis Friday at 7 p.m. at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, Mo. Following the match with the Billikens, the Tigers will make the short drive to SIU-Edwardsville to play the Cougars Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

It was just a year ago when head coach Richard Mulrooney began his first season as head coach of the Memphis men's soccer program and was in search of his first career win. His Tigers achieved that against SIUE in overtime at home before upsetting a nationally-ranked Saint Louis team three days later.

"This is a great challenge and this is a game I want for our guys. Let's see if we can snap out of this," Mulrooney said. "Is it easier said than done? Absolutely. But we are confident. We played them last year and got a result. I'm expecting they will have a great crowd on a Friday night. I'm excited for the boys and if we're up to the challenge I truly believe we can get a result."

Memphis has started the season 0-2 with losses to UAB and Northern Kentucky despite maintaining good amounts of possession and passing the ball well. The Tigers have had their struggles in the final third and haven't defended set pieces as well as they would have liked.

The quantity of chances has been there for Memphis through the first two games, but the quality has been lacking. The Tigers have a combined 34 shots compared to their opponents' 17. But of those 34 shots only 15 have been on target, with just the one goal scored. Memphis has also earned 20 corner kicks in the two matches, but too often the service into the box hasn't been good enough.

"We are moving the ball well but there are just a couple of things in our game that we have to correct. I feel confident that we are going to do that. Individually our newcomers are starting to get the minutes and see what college soccer is about. That's what the early season is for so when you get into conference the guys are ready," said Mulrooney.

Saint Louis opened the season with a 1-0 double overtime win over last season's American Athletic Conference tournament champion, Tulsa. Senior forward Vince Cicciarelli scored early in the second overtime period to lift the Billikens to the victory.
Regular participants in the NCAA Tournament, Saint Louis was back in the postseason last year as an at-large selection and won its first round game.

The Billikens were picked to win the Atlantic 10 despite returning only one of the team's five leading scorers last season. Six Billikens were named to the A-10 preseason All-Conference team.

SIU-Edwardsville is 1-1 after starting the season with a pair of road games. The Cougars dropped the opener, 3-1, to Bowling Green before picking up a 1-0 win over Oakland. Senior midfielder Jabari Danzy has scored both of SIUE's goals so far.

The Cougars won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a first-round win over Northwestern.

The favorites to win this season's MVC title, SIUE had two defenders named to the preseason all-conference team, senior Justin Bilyeu and junior Austin Ledbetter.

"We'll take it game by game but we're going in thinking we can win both. Our goal is to make our record 2-2. Saint Louis is our focus right now and we'll discus SIUE after that on Friday," said Mulrooney.

The tough road stretch will continue for Memphis with a trip to Kentucky, who is receiving votes in the NSCAA Poll, on September 12 at 6:00 p.m. A week later the Tigers will play No. 15 Louisville Sept. 22 at 7:00 p.m.

University of Memphis Athletics

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