University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
South Florida
No. 11 Tigers Find Second-Half Spark to Beat South Florida, 3-0
Sep 25, 2025 | Women's Soccer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The 11th-ranked Memphis women's soccer team scored three times in the second half on their way to a decisive 3-0 victory over South Florida on Thursday night at the Track and Soccer Stadium.
Alex Mackay broke the deadlock early in the second half, and the Tiger onslaught only escalated from there as they outshot the Bulls, 10-6, in the half. Ashley Henderson buried a free kick in the 71st minute, and Ai Kitagawa sealed the victory with five minutes to play as Memphis improved to 8-0-2 (2-0-1 American) and completed their 35th consecutive home game without a loss.
"That team we played is really, really good. People see that we beat some big SEC names, but South Florida is up there with them," said head coach Brooks Monaghan. "I thought we let them do a lot in the first half with the ball, but we challenged the girls at halftime and they responded. Once we scored, I thought we did a great job of staying on the front foot."
The Bulls (6-5, 2-1 American) went toe-to-toe with Memphis in the first half; they only produced four shots but earned four corner kicks and controlled the ball much more than the Tigers' previous conference opponents. The second half started with the same intensity, as goalkeeper Abby Kudla was forced into two saves in quick succession in the 49th minute to keep the game level.
The Bulls' legs began to tire, though, and Memphis became more comfortable attacking as the game endured. In the 56th minute, Flavie Dube's cross traveled across the entire penalty area, finding the feet of Alex Mackay who buried a shot from an improbable angle for the second straight game. It was the third goal of the sophomore's season, surpassing her goal output from 2024.
"I just wanted to hit it clean, so if it doesn't go in it can maybe find my teammates to put in," said Mackay. "After the first goal I thought it really gave us confidence to continue to go forward."
In the 55 minutes before the goal, South Florida took eight shots; in the remaining 45 minutes, they mustered just two as Memphis took total control of the proceedings. After Henderson was brought down on the edge of the area, it was undoubtedly going to be the Memphis native to take the freekick, and she delivered a beautiful curled shot that found the bottom right corner of the goal to double the advantage.
Kitagawa put the nail in the coffin with five minutes to go with the assist coming from fellow Japan native Mihiro Furuya. Finley Lavin, Evelyn Mackay and Ally Casey played all 90 minutes in defense to keep their seventh clean sheet of the year, and Ava Gaida played the entire second half in the midfield.
The Tigers will travel to Houston this Sunday, September 28, to face No. 25 Rice at 11:00 a.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tigers Soccer, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
