Men's Soccer Welcomes SIU Edwardsville Wednesday

Wednesday, September 14

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

SIU Edwardsville

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Sep 13, 2016 | Men's Soccer

The Tigers are at home for the next three matches

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Head coach Richard Mulrooney and the University of Memphis men's soccer team return home this week for three in a row, starting with SIU Edwardsville Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. The Tigers enter into the week with a 3-3 overall record including a 2-0 mark at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex.

GAME 7 INFORMATION:
Wednesday, Sept. 14 | 7 p.m. CT
SIU Edwardsville at Memphis
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Venue: Mike Rose Soccer Complex
Twitter Updates: @MemphisMSoccer
Video: Memphis Tiger Network
Live Stats: www.gotigersgo.com

The Tigers are looking to bounce back after a tough weekend in California last week. Memphis dropped a pair of matches to Cal State Fullerton and No. 13/9 San Diego State.

"We learned a lot about our team Friday night," said Mulrooney. "The first 30 minutes of the game (Cal State Fullerton) we went out and executed our game plan. For some reason after they scored their first goal, we sort of fell apart. In the 2-0 loss (to San Diego State), our guys left it all on the field and to build on that going into Wednesday night is a positive."

This season, Memphis has had six different goal scorers led by freshman Jackson Morse's three. Morse was named the American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week earlier this season and is currently just one goal shy of being the conference leader in that category.

Another freshman, Remington Pimm, ranks second in The American with two assists. He registered both of his assists in the victory against Belmont on Sept. 2.

Junior goalkeeper Jake Leeker has seen all of the minutes in goal this season for Memphis. His two shutouts against Belmont and Missouri rank first in the conference. He is also in the top three with a .737 save percentage and 28 saves this year.

The Cougars of SIUE come to Memphis with a 1-1-2 overall record with ties against Northern Illinois and Valparaiso and a victory against Cal State Northridge. SIUE's lone victory came at home while they are 0-1 on the road.

Austin Ledbetter, a senior defender, has scored the only two goals of the season for the Cougars. At the start of the season, Ledbetter was named to the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy watch list. This award is the highest individual honor given in collegiate soccer.

SIUE was picked to repeat as the Missouri Valley Conference champions. Two players, in addition to Ledbetter, were selected to the 11-member Preseason All-Conference team. Those other two players were senior midfielder Ivan Gutierrez and junior forward Devyn Jambga.

"Another competitive match," said Mulrooney. "(SIUE) is always well organized and very disciplined on the backline. We will be well recovered, there will be no hangover from the San Diego trip. With saying that, we'll need the full 90 minutes to put in a performance and get the result we're looking for."

After Wednesday's match, the Tigers will host Houston Baptist Sunday and Cincinnati next Saturday in the string of three-straight home matches. Kick-off against the Huskies Sunday evening is slated for 6 p.m. Admission is free for all matches at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex and all matches can be viewed on the Memphis Tiger Network.