University of Memphis Athletics
Friday, August 19
7:00 PM
University of Memphis
vs
Southeastern Louisiana
Photo by: Joe Murphy
Season Opens Friday at 7 PM at Mike Rose Soccer Complex
Aug 18, 2016 | Women's Soccer
Tigers face two tough opponents on opening weekend
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A young University of Memphis women's soccer team will open the 2016 season against Southeastern Louisiana Friday at 7 p.m. at Mike Rose Soccer Complex. The Tigers will have to get up to speed quickly, facing the Lions in Friday's opener before welcoming Western Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m.
"We have a strong squad even though were not at full strength right now," Memphis head coach Brooks Monaghan said. "That's why you have to have depth. We feel that we have a group of kids that can come in and get the job done. Our hands are going to be full with two tough opponents, in Southeastern Louisiana who made the NCAA Tournament last season and Western Kentucky who beat us last year. We know that we will have to be at our best to this point to come away with victories."
Despite having a youthful squad that features 10 freshmen and nine sophomores, Memphis does have two very experienced seniors in goalkeeper Maryse Bard-Martel and forward Valerie Sanderson.
Both players from Boisbriand, Quebec, have started all 59 matches since they arrived at Memphis in 2013. Bard-Martel has logged more than 5,400 minutes in goal and posted 18 career shutouts while Sanderson has accounted for 36 goals and 11 assists while being named all-conference all three seasons.
The two veterans can expect to be surrounded on the field by talented underclassmen right from the start of the season.
"We definitely have some very talented freshman that will see some major minutes over the weekend. There will definitely be some new faces out there that will be deserving of the minutes they get," Monaghan said.
Southeastern Louisiana is coming off of a 13-5-4 season, which included a Southland Conference Tournament championship and the Lions' third trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Lions are led by senior goalkeeper Hope Sabadash, who was named the program's first All-American in 2015. She led the Southland Conference in goals against average (0.83) and shutouts (10) in 2015.
WKU returns nine starters from a team that posted an 8-6-5 record in 2015 and reached the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament. The Hilltoppers return leading scorers Iris Dunn and Hannah Chua, who each scored five goals.
"This team has had a very good preseason and worked extremely hard. With the short period of time that we have to prepare, I think we are ready. We had a couple of preseason games and had an opportunity to play a lot of kids and try different things. At this point you kind of hope, because you don't really know where you're at since all you've had is the preseason. We know right now that we are not where we want to be a month from now but we feel like we're in a good enough place to compete this opening weekend," said Monaghan.
Following this weekend the Tigers will hit the road for a matchup with rival Ole Miss on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. in Oxford, Miss. Memphis will then play at Little Rock on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. The next home match for the Tigers will be against UMKC on Friday September 2 at 5 p.m.
"We have a strong squad even though were not at full strength right now," Memphis head coach Brooks Monaghan said. "That's why you have to have depth. We feel that we have a group of kids that can come in and get the job done. Our hands are going to be full with two tough opponents, in Southeastern Louisiana who made the NCAA Tournament last season and Western Kentucky who beat us last year. We know that we will have to be at our best to this point to come away with victories."
| GAME 1 INFORMATION: Friday, August 18 | 7 p.m. CT Memphis vs. Southeastern Louisiana Location: Memphis, Tenn. Venue: Mike Rose Soccer Complex Twitter Updates: @MemphisWSoccer Video: Memphis Tiger Network Live Stats: StatBroadcast |
GAME 2 INFORMATION: Sunday, August 21 | 1 p.m. CT Memphis vs. Western Kentucky Location: Memphis, Tenn. Venue: Mike Rose Soccer Complex Twitter Updates: @MemphisWSoccer Video: Memphis Tiger Network Live Stats: StatBroadcast |
Despite having a youthful squad that features 10 freshmen and nine sophomores, Memphis does have two very experienced seniors in goalkeeper Maryse Bard-Martel and forward Valerie Sanderson.
Both players from Boisbriand, Quebec, have started all 59 matches since they arrived at Memphis in 2013. Bard-Martel has logged more than 5,400 minutes in goal and posted 18 career shutouts while Sanderson has accounted for 36 goals and 11 assists while being named all-conference all three seasons.
The two veterans can expect to be surrounded on the field by talented underclassmen right from the start of the season.
"We definitely have some very talented freshman that will see some major minutes over the weekend. There will definitely be some new faces out there that will be deserving of the minutes they get," Monaghan said.
Southeastern Louisiana is coming off of a 13-5-4 season, which included a Southland Conference Tournament championship and the Lions' third trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Lions are led by senior goalkeeper Hope Sabadash, who was named the program's first All-American in 2015. She led the Southland Conference in goals against average (0.83) and shutouts (10) in 2015.
WKU returns nine starters from a team that posted an 8-6-5 record in 2015 and reached the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament. The Hilltoppers return leading scorers Iris Dunn and Hannah Chua, who each scored five goals.
"This team has had a very good preseason and worked extremely hard. With the short period of time that we have to prepare, I think we are ready. We had a couple of preseason games and had an opportunity to play a lot of kids and try different things. At this point you kind of hope, because you don't really know where you're at since all you've had is the preseason. We know right now that we are not where we want to be a month from now but we feel like we're in a good enough place to compete this opening weekend," said Monaghan.
Following this weekend the Tigers will hit the road for a matchup with rival Ole Miss on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. in Oxford, Miss. Memphis will then play at Little Rock on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. The next home match for the Tigers will be against UMKC on Friday September 2 at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Women's Soccer
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