No. 18 Tigers blank Mississippi State in 4-0 win

Sunday, September 8

Starkville, Miss.

7 p.m.

University of Memphis

4-1-0, 0-0-0

Mississippi State

4-1-0, 0-0-0

Memphis

Mississippi St.

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Sep 08, 2019 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Under 48 hours removed from a 1-0 shutout earlier in the week, No. 18 Memphis women's soccer turned in another 90-minute battle as the Tigers downed Mississippi State 4-0 in Starkville on Sunday evening.

After taking an early 1-0 lead, the Memphis backline held ground for the remainder of the night, before junior Clarissa Larisey collected her second hat trick of the season in the final three minutes of the match to set the 4-0 final.

"Give credit to Mississippi State. It wasn't a 4-0 game. It was a hard-fought battle on both sides of the ball," head coach Brooks Monaghan said. "It really tested us. I'm really proud of the girls. We changed our system at halftime, and I thought they did a good job with it. Larisey put the game away for us and was composed with those finishes. It was a battle, and I'm happy to be on the winning side."

Much like its first win of the week, Memphis used a ninth-minute score to strike first when junior Samantha Murphy's header snuck inside the far post for her first goal of the season.

Senior Stasia Mallin sent in a cross from the right side, and Murphy's finish just outside the 6-yard box put the Tigers ahead early.

"It was a perfect ball in from Stasia. I knew I was going to get a good finish on it," Murphy said. "To get the first goal of the season really opens up my confidence. We knew we had to play the full 90 tonight and you see what happened."

After silencing the Bulldog offense over the next 75 minutes, Larisey tallied three consecutive scores in a 2:31 span to seal the win. Her under-three minute scores topped her first hat trick span of the season, which came in 3:26.

In goal, junior Elizabeth Moberg tallied her third consecutive shutout, saving the three Bulldog looks on target. The Memphis defense limited the Bulldogs to seven shots throughout the evening. The clean sheet also handed Mississippi State its first regular-season shutout loss at home since 2017.

"They have some very dangerous players. (MaKayla) Waldner is exceptional. That was part of our game plan in not letting her beat us," Monaghan added. "I think we did a pretty good job of that tonight. The biggest thing was getting a team win. It took a lot of guts. I'm really proud of the group for this performance tonight."

Memphis returns to Park Avenue Campus for its next contest when the Tigers host Southeastern Louisiana Thursday at 7 p.m.