Homestand Continues For Men's Soccer Sunday

Sunday, September 18

Memphis, Tenn.

6:00 PM

University of Memphis

Houston Baptist

Photo by: Casey Goodwin

Sep 16, 2016 | Men's Soccer

Memphis welcomes Houston Baptist for its second of three home matches in a row

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis men's soccer team looks to improve to 4-0 at home by hosting Houston Baptist Sunday evening. Kick-off at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex is set for 6 p.m.

"We've got a Houston Baptist team coming in here that's going to be fighting and clawing to try and get a victory," said head coach Richard Mulrooney. "If we keep our tempo high, we can beat anybody. I think the guys showed it (Wednesday) and if we bring that into Sunday, I like our chances of getting a victory."

Memphis comes into Sunday's contest after winning a thrilling come from behind match against SIU Edwardsville Wednesday night. The Tigers trailed 1-0 heading into the final 20 minutes of the contest before a penalty kick in the 77^th minute tied the contest up at 1-1. Then, with 11 seconds on the clock, SIUE deflected a ball into its own goal to give Memphis a 2-1 advantage.

Raul Gonzalez returned from injury Wednesday evening and was responsible for tying the match up on the PK. After the SIUE handball in the box, Memphis went with its senior to get the job done. Gonzalez took both of the penalty kicks last season for Memphis.

The 3-0 start at home is the best start for Memphis since 2013 when the Tigers defeated UMKC, Oral Roberts, and Mercer to start the season. Overall, the Tigers have a 4-3 record.

Houston Baptist comes to Memphis with a week's worth of rest with its last match coming against Oral Roberts on Sept. 11. The Huskies fell short in Tulsa by a score of 1-0.

This season, Houston Baptist is 2-3-1 overall with victories against Huston-Tillotson and Central Arkansas. On the road, the Huskies are 1-1-0.

Houston Baptist has scored six goals this season and is led by Malik Key with two. Marc Anthone has registered three of the six assists this year and Chance Pope has spent every minute in goal. Pope has a .679 save percentage and a 1.41 goals against average in over 570 minutes this season.

The Huskies are led by head coach Steve Jones who is currently in his 10^th season at the helm.

The final match of the three match homestand is next Saturday against Cincinnati to open up conference play. Kick-off against the Bearcats is at 7 p.m. at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. All games are free admission and can be viewed on the Memphis Tiger Network.