Tigers claim regular-season title in shutout win

Thursday, October 31

Tulsa, Okla.

7 p.m.

University of Memphis

16-1-1, 8-0-1

Tulsa

8-11-0, 2-7-0

Memphis

Tulsa

Photo by: Eric Glemser

Oct 31, 2019 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

TULSA, Okla. – Behind a 3-0 shutout at Tulsa, No. 10/8 Memphis women's soccer claimed its first American Athletic Conference regular-season championship on Thursday night.

With the win, the Tigers (16-1-1, 8-0-1) secured the No. 1 seed in next week's American Athletic Conference Championship and earned the host bid. Memphis also claimed its fourth regular-season conference title in program history (C-USA - 2007, 2008, 2011).

"It's fantastic. I'm so proud of these kids," head coach Brooks Monaghan said. "To be able to do it after losing six starters from last year's team, it's incredible. I'm proud to be their coach."

Memphis began their match against the Golden Hurricane with pace after netting two goals in the first seven minutes. Junior Lisa Pechersky collected her first goal of the season in the third minute of play, while sophomore Tanya Boychuk netted her eighth score of the season just four minutes later.

"We really challenged our players to put Tulsa under pressure. That's exactly what they did in getting the two goals early," Monaghan said of the game plan. "It changes the momentum of the game. I was proud of the way we came out."

The Tigers added one final score in the 64^th minute to seal the match as junior Samantha Murphy connected with classmate Clarissa Larisey for her team-leading 15^th goal of the season.

In net, junior Elizabeth Moberg tallied two saves as the Memphis back line limited Tulsa to six shots throughout the evening. Moberg capped the night with her 27^th career shutout, which stands as an American Athletic Conference career record.

"She came up huge when she needed to. She made a big-time save in the second half off a deflection. It's what she has done all year," Monaghan said of the keeper. "We have a stingy defense that doesn't allow for a ton of saves, but she has come up big for us when she needed to all season, and that's what she did tonight."

Earning a first-round bye in the conference tournament, the Tigers will shift their focus to Thursday's semifinal round and face the winner of the No. 5 seed in SMU at No. 4 seed Cincinnati, which will be played Sunday.

"We talked three games ago (after the bye week) that this was a three-game mini-season. And our players took care of business. We're going to enjoy this tonight, and then it's on to another mini-season with the conference tournament," Monaghan added. "It's well deserved from this group. Doing it with no losses in this conference is no easy task. Tomorrow, we shift our focus on the conference tournament."