Jan. 26, 2010

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis men's soccer team will continue its series with FC Dallas of Major League Soccer on Sat., Feb. 6 at 10 a.m., at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. This year's match between the Tigers and the Hoops will mark the sixth time in seven years that the two squad's have faced eachother.

"We are really pleased to return to Frisco to play FC Dallas for the sixth time in seven seasons," said Memphis head coach Richie Grant. "It will be a really exciting match for us and it is a great way to start the spring season."

Saturday's match will be the first of the spring season for the Tigers. Memphis is coming off a 7-7-2 record during the 2009 season, including an upset of No. 23 Drake and an exciting 1-1 tie to open the season with Fox Soccer Channel's "Game of the Week" against Bradley.

Memphis' spring squad is led by juniors-to-be Parker Duncan and Thomas Shannon, as well as senior Rory O'Connor and sophomore Andreas Guentner.

Duncan, a native of Johnson City, Tenn., has tallied 10 goals and four assists in his two seasons in the Bluff City.

Guentner, a native of Regensburg, Germany, garnered C-USA All-Freshman honors, as well as All-C-USA third team honors, while playing as a defender and midfielder during his initial collegiate season.

Shannon, a defender from Broken Arrow, Okla., was crucial to the Tigers in 2009, connecting on three penalty kicks at the end of the season.

O'Connor will join fellow seniors-to-be Ryan Ruble and Eric Trujillo as the elder statesmen on the squad in 2010. O'Connor will look to anchor the back of the Memphis defenese along with Shannon.

In goal, the Tigers will look to sophomore-to-be Jordan Leedle. Leedle's only action of his Memphis career came in his initial game of his college career as a true freshman.

FC Dallas is coached by long-time SMU head coach Schellas Hyndman. In his second year as the head coach of the Hoops, Hyndman led his squad to a 11-13-6 record and a seventh place finish in the Western Conference standings of Major League Soccer.

FC Dallas was led by Jeff Cunningham offensively. The USF product, scored 17 goals and tallied eight assists for the Hoops in 2009.

In goal, FC Dallas was anchored by duo of Dario Sala and Ray Burse. The pair combined for a 1.57 goals against average and five shutouts.