Oct. 12, 2008

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Final Stats

MIAMI, Fla. - The University of Memphis men's soccer team defeated the Florida International Golden Panthers, 2-1, on Sunday in Miami, Fla. Parker Duncan scored the first two goals of his Memphis career against the Golden Panthers in just his third start as a Tiger. The win moves Memphis' record to 4-8 on the year. The Tigers are now 2-2 in conference play after two straight conference victories over No. 15 SMU and FIU. Florida International moves to 2-7-2 overall and 1-2-0 in Conference USA.

The Tigers' first goal came in the 13th minute of the game. A FIU defender lost control of the ball letting Duncan take control of it and launch it into the back of the net past Florida International goalkeeper Jesse Fullerton. The goal was Duncan's first of his career.

FIU outshot Memphis in the first half eight to four, but the Tigers held the lead 1-0 at the break.

In the second half, the U of M improved their lead to 2-0 in the 61st minute when Duncan rebounded a Ryan Ruble shot from five yards out from the goal and shot it past Fullerton for the second goal of the game of the second career goal for the freshman forward from Johnson City, Tenn. Fullerton had the save on the Ruble shot but was unable to control the ball which Duncan put past him.

Memphis retained a 2-0 lead until the 79th minute when FIU defender Phil Fisher header in a goal off of a Juan Guerra free kick. The goal was Fisher's first of his career. The assist was Guerra's third of the year.

FIU had 16 shots to Memphis' nine. Duncan had two goals on two shots. Ruble, a sophomore forward from Lee's Summitt, Mo., had two shots, as well. Guerra led the Golden Panthers in shots with six, but only one of those shots was on goal. The assist is Ruble's second of the season.

Michael Goodlett earned the win for the U of M. The junior goalkeeper is now 4-7 on the year. Goodlett, a native of Bolton, Miss., had five saves on the game. Junior goalie Harrison Cheatham saw his first action of the season for Memphis playing just over 10 minutes at the start of the second half. Goodlett now has 50 saves on the year and has posted a 1.37 goals against average.

Michael Coburn returned to action for the U of M after missing the Creighton game with an injury. Coburn was the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week last week after heading in the game winning goal to defeat the No. 15 SMU Mustangs.

The win marks Memphis' first win in the state of Florida since they defeated both Stetson and South Florida at the 2000 Reebok South Florida Classic. The Tigers were 0-3 in their last three games in Florida, losing 2-0 to FIU in 2006 and 4-2 to South Florida in 2002 and 2-0 to No. 10 South Florida in 2004. Memphis is now 2-2 in games against Florida International.

Memphis will return to action when they face South Carolina in Columbia on Fri., Oct. 17.