Tigers Continuing to Progress in Preseason Schedule

With exactly one week left until the regular season opener at Mike Rose Soccer Complex, the Memphis women's soccer team will travel to Nashville to take on Lipscomb in the Tigers' final exhibition match Friday at 6 p.m.

Memphis has a quick turnaround from its first preseason match, which was at Mississippi State Thursday night in Starkville.

"Preseason is a process and you try to get better each day," Memphis head coach Brooks Monaghan said. "We have two exhibition games and one is under our belt. We were able to take a few positives from that but the biggest thing about our last game was to learn from it. We have a lot of young players that weren't used to the speed of play and the physicality of it."

Several freshmen were able to get their first collegiate experience against Mississippi State and will hope to get more minutes before the regular season starts against Southeastern Louisiana on August 19 at 6 p.m.

Senior goalkeeper Maryse Bard-Martel split time with redshirt sophomore Rachel Ashworth, who has yet to appear in a regular season match in her Memphis career.

"Let's get better with what we can control right now. That includes playing simple, communicating, increasing the speed of play and being more physical. There are a lot of tactical things that take time with such a young team. But we are just hoping to make improvements each day," said Monaghan.

Lipscomb is sure to be another tough opponent after the Bisons were picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches Poll. The team is led by decorated senior goalkeeper Anna Buhigas, who was selected to repeat as the league's Goalkeeper of the Year for a third consecutive season.

Tigers Continuing to Progress in Preseason Schedule

Players Mentioned

Rachel Ashworth Shepard

Maryse Bard-Martel

University of Memphis Athletics