Men’s Soccer Draws In Season Opener

Friday, August 25

Nashville, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

0-0-1

Belmont

0-0-1

OT 3

OT 4

Memphis

Belmont

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Aug 25, 2017 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Jake Leeker records a career-high nine saves in the stalemate

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Memphis men's soccer team opened up the 2017 season with a 0-0 draw on the road at Belmont Friday evening. Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Jake Leeker had a career-night for the Tigers, notching nine saves and his 11^th career shutout in the draw.

"It ended up being the typical first match of the year, both teams had anxiety and nerves and you could tell by how the first part of the match played out with turnovers," said head coach Richard Mulrooney. "As the match when on, I thought the game got a little more settled and started to flow. At the end of the day, we had some opportunities and they had some opportunities and a 0-0 result is probably fair on both ends."

The Tigers put together opportunities throughout the entirety of the match, but struggled to find the back of the net. In all, Memphis recorded 14 shots with just four on goal.

The 62^nd minute of the match came the Tigers best look of the evening. A cross from the right side from freshman Jackson Brady found an open Brantley Bice, however, his header landed to the left of the net.

The freshman duo almost connected 15 minutes later, this time Bice's header was sent high.

With the seconds counting down in the 90^th minute, Leeker made his biggest save of the evening in a one-v-one situation on the left side. Just as the Belmont attacker tried to send the shot past Leeker, the St. Louis, Missouri native one-handed a save to send the match into overtime.

Belmont finished the match with 13 corner kicks compared to just two by the Tigers. Memphis had a balanced attack with 11 players registering a shot. Seven newcomers started for the Tigers on Friday.

"We were hoping for more, but we were also happy to get out of there without a loss. We better learn from it quick as we have a UAB team coming on Sunday that also drew a tie and is hungry for a win," added Mulrooney.

The Tigers will return to Memphis for the home opener Sunday, a doubleheader with the women's team against UAB. Kick-off against the Blazers is set for 5 p.m. at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. 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.