Tigers Blank Fairleigh Dickinson in Birmingham

Sunday, September 2

Birmingham, Ala.

11:00 AM

University of Memphis

2-1-1

Fairleigh Dickinson

2-1-1

Fairleigh Dickinson

Memphis

Photo by: Michael Wade

Sep 02, 2018 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis men's soccer team picked up its second win of the season after shutting out Fairleigh Dickinson 1-0 Sunday morning.

Fairleigh Dickinson was the first team to threaten, finding a corner kick in the seventh minute of the match. The Knights were able to get a shot off, but it went wide of the goal.

The Tigers responded with an attack of their own a few minutes later, which resulted in Peyton McKnatt's third goal of the season. Freshman Gurman Sangha dropped McKnatt a pass inside the box, and McKnatt put it in the back of the net.

"Peyton just finds himself in good spots, and he has the technical ability," Head coach Richard Mulrooney explained. "He was around the ball a lot, and when you have a good engine like he does, the technical ability, and a willingness to work, the sky's the limit. He's obviously making a difference for us this year playing whatever position we've asked him to play."

In the 27^th minute, FDU tried to strike again, earning a pair of corner kicks off of a couple of stopped shots from goalkeeper Tyler Hofmann. The Tiger defense held, negating both corners.

As the half drew to a close, Artur De Luca fired a shot, but it sailed wide of the net. Memphis outshot the Knights 6-3 in the first half.

Memphis began the second half looking to extend its lead, as Brantley Bice let loose a shot just three minutes into the second period. A few minutes later, David Zalzman lined up a corner kick, but the Knights were able to stave off the set piece.

Not ones to quit, the Knights kept attacking, firing a shot in the 80^th minute of action, but the Tiger defense blocked the shot, holding on to the lead with time running down.

Goalkeeper Tyler Hofmann earned his first career shutout, stopping both shots on goal from FDU. Overall, the Tigers led the Knights 11 shots to four.

"This was closer to a ninety-minute performance, unlike Friday night. I think we learned from that, and the big difference was that we were able to get that first goal," Mulrooney said about the effort during the match. "It was a deserved goal, and the guys build confidence from that. The guys really fought through all of the adversity today, and kept the shutout. We're playing a good brand of soccer, the team's really coming together. I like where we are headed into the third week of the season."

Memphis resumes its road slate, traveling to Omaha, Neb., next weekend for a pair of matches. First on the docket are the hometown Creighton Bluejays on Friday, followed by a neutral site match in Omaha against Utah Valley on Sunday.