Western Kentucky and Ole Miss up Next for Memphis

Friday, September 18

Bowling Green, Ky.

6:00 PM CT

University of Memphis

WKU

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Sep 17, 2015 | Women's Soccer

Tigers look to continue recent unbeaten streak

WHAT: Match 7
WHO: Memphis at WKU
WHEN: 6 p.m. CT, Sept. 18, 2015
WATCH: W KUSports.tv
STATS: StatBroadcast
TWITTER: @MemphisWSoccer

WHAT: Match 8
WHO: Ole Miss at Memphis
WHEN: 7 p.m. CT, Sept. 20, 2015
WATCH: Memphis Tiger Network
STATS: StatBroadcast
TWITTER: @MemphisWSoccer

Following the Tigers' first scoring outburst of the season last week, Memphis will face a step up in competition this week with a road trip to Western Kentucky, Friday at 6:00 p.m., before hosting Ole Miss, Sunday at 7:00 p.m., at Mike Rose Soccer Complex.

Memphis (4-1-1) is unbeaten in its last four matches, and for the first time this season scored more than one goal in a match when the Tigers beat Idaho 4-3 in double overtime. Last weekend started with the team's third 1-0 victory, Friday over UT Martin, and fifth consecutive match to score just one goal.

Junior forward Valerie Sanderson had her first multi-goal output in the win over Idaho and now has scored three this season. Freshman Elizabeth Woerner notched the game-winning goal to keep her tied with Sanderson for the team lead in goals.

"I've always said that this is a young squad so it takes time but hopefully we're getting closer to hitting our stride," Memphis head coach Brooks Monaghan said. "We are growing as individuals and growing as a team. We are getting better but we're not where we need to be yet."

Western Kentucky owns a 3-2-2 record and like the Tigers, the Hilltoppers are unbeaten in their last four matches. Every one of the last four matches has been extremely tight, with the last three going into overtime.

Junior forward Iris Dunn and sophomore midfielder Hannah Chua share the team lead with three goals. Sophomore defender Nahyo Jalajel has a team-high three assists.

"I know Western Kentucky's coach well and he's done a great job there. They are tough to play at home and I know we will have our hands full. We will have to play at a high level in order to get a result," said Monaghan.

Although the home match on Sunday is against a regional rival and a team from the Southeastern Conference, Monaghan knows that his team can't look past Friday's game against WKU.

"Our philosophy is always to take one game at a time. We know that right now we can't overlook any opponent and that's what I've told our kids. We have a decent record but we're not where we need to be. Through this short season we've learned that we have to show up every day and can't overlook anybody," Monaghan said.

Ole Miss started the season extremely well and sits at 5-1-2 coming into the weekend. The Rebels opened SEC play last week with a loss to Kentucky, 4-2, at home.

The Rebels have scored 19 goals this season and the majority of those can be credited to two players. Freshman CeCe Kizer is one of the nation's leading goal scorers with seven to her name already while junior Addie Forbus is second on the team with five goals.

"Ole Miss has a veteran squad this year and they're good. They are a rival of ours and it's been a great rivalry over the years. The last several games have been very close. This matchup, regardless of the records, is usually a good game. There's a lot of emotion that goes into games like this and they have a lot of Memphis kids on their team," Monaghan said.

The Rebels play at Florida on Friday night before making the trip to Mike Rose Stadium for Sunday's 7:00 p.m. start.