Men’s Soccer Opens Up Regular Season Friday

Friday, August 25

Nashville, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

Belmont

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Aug 24, 2017 | Men's Soccer

Live Stats - Belmont Watch - Belmont Live Stats - UAB Watch - UAB

Tigers open the season on the road Friday before returning to Mike Rose Sunday

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – With two exhibition victories and two weeks of training under its belt, the University of Memphis men's soccer team is set to open the regular season on the road Friday night against Belmont at 7 p.m. Memphis will then return home to the Mike Rose Soccer Complex Sunday to open the home schedule with a 5 p.m. match against long-time rival UAB.

MATCH INFORMATION:

Friday, August 25
Memphis at Belmont
Location/Time: Nashville, Tenn. - 7 p.m.
Venue: E.S. Rose Park
Twitter Updates: @MemphisMSoccer
Watch | Live Stats

Sunday, August 27
Memphis vs. UAB
Location: Memphis, Tenn. – 5 p.m.
Venue: Mike Rose Soccer Complex
Twitter Updates: @MemphisMSoccer
Watch $ | Live Stats

"It's exciting to get through preseason and start playing our competition in meaningful games," said head coach Richard Mulrooney. "Belmont and UAB are both solid programs that will put us to the test early. We look forward to getting started this weekend."

The Tigers welcome 13 newcomers this season with many of those newcomers seeing significant minutes in the exhibition victories last week. Memphis also returns its leading goal scorer in Jackson Morse and its leading assists man in David Zalzman.

Mulrooney enters into his fourth season at the University of Memphis and holds a 20-25-7 overall record after finishing 8-8-1 last season.

The Match-Up
Belmont and UAB are schools that are frequent opponents in the history of the Memphis men's soccer team. All-time against the Bruins, Memphis sits at 14-1 including a 4-0 shutout victory at Mike Rose Soccer Complex last season.

This is the eighth time in program history that the Tigers are taking on Belmont in Nashville. On the road, Memphis is 6-1 against the Bruins with its only setback during its first road meeting in 1997.

Against the Blazers, the series is tied at 19-19 after Memphis defeated UAB in the season opener last year by a score of 1-0. The win last year snapped a three-match skid against the Blazers. Since the inception of the Memphis men's soccer team in 1982, UAB has been on the schedule every year except 1989 and 1990. Memphis has played no school more than its played UAB.

Memphis will look to defeat UAB at home for the first time since 2012 when both squads were members of Conference USA.

A Look At Belmont
Belmont was picked to finish ninth in the 10-team Horizon League after finishing the 2016 conference schedule with a 2-5-2 record. Overall, the 2016 Bruins were 3-12-3 and 2-4-2 on their home pitch.

Dan Brown, a senior defender for the Bruins, is the only player returning in 2017 who scored a goal in 2016. The Bruins have 14 freshmen and four transfers this season, giving a completely new look from just a season ago. All three of the Belmont goalkeepers are new to the roster this season.

Head coach Bryan Green is entering into his fourth season at the helm of the Belmont program.

A Look At UAB
Unlike the large number of newcomers for Belmont, UAB returns 21 letterwinners from the 2016 season including senior midfielder David Valverde who was the lone Blazer selected to the All-Conference USA Preseason Team. Only the goalkeeper position is where the Blazers are not returning their starter from 2016.

UAB was selected sixth in the Conference USA preseason poll after finishing last season with a 6-9-3 overall record. Mike Getman is the head coach of the Blazers and is currently entering into his 26^th season at the helm with a 269-176-40 UAB record.

Follow the Tigers
For more information on the Memphis men's soccer team, follow the Tigers on Facebook at /MemphisSoccer and on Twitter and Instagram at @MemphisMSoccer. Admission is free for all home matches.