Sept. 3, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

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The Memphis Tigers men's soccer team will hit the road for the first time in the regular season, traveling to Burlington, Vt., to partake in the 2008 Smith Barney/Nike Soccer Classic, which will be hosted by the University of Vermont Catamounts. The Tigers will face the New Hampshire Wildcats in the first game of the tournament at 1 p.m. (CST) on Fri., Sept. 5. In Memphis' second game they will face-off with Vermont at 12:30 p.m. (CST) on Sun., Sept. 7.

The tournament marks a return trip for head coach Richie Grant to the state which gave him his start in collegiate athletics. Grant was a three-time NAIA All-American defender at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt. The campus of Green Mountain College is only 70 miles away from the University of Vermont campus.

"It has been a long time since I have been back to Vermont," Grant said. "I have never been back to Vermont to coach a soccer game before. I have seen the UVM facility before and it is going to be a great place to host a tournament which will feature good quality games."

Memphis enters the Smith Barney/Nike Soccer Classic, with a record of 1-1 on the young season. The Tigers lost to No. 21 Bradley, 4-0, on Fri., Aug. 29, but came back on Sunday, to defeat Oral Roberts, 4-3. The U of M was led by freshman Thomas Shannon of Broken Arrow, Okla., who scored two goals for the Tigers in their defeat of the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts. The two goals were the first of Shannon's career.

Grant is looking forward to facing two tough opponents in Vermont and New Hampshire. The Catamounts of Vermont are coming off a season which saw them advance to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the first round to No. 3 UCONN, 2-0. Vermont finished second in the America East conference in 2008 after going 9-10-3. The Catamounts return their leading scorer from 2007, Lee Stephane Kouadio. The senior forward from Woodlyn, Penn., connected on four goals last season, as well as tallying two assists. Vermont also returns Jordan Crasilneck who scored one goal and notched two assists for the Catamounts in their opening weekend of play. Vermont enters the tournament with a record of 1-0-1 after tying Western Michigan, 1-1, and defeating Michigan State, 2-1, at the MSU/Radisson Fall Classic in East Lansing, Mich.

New Hampshire comes into Friday's match with Memphis garnering a record of 2-0. The Wildcats defeated both of their opponents in their own tournament, the Nike Fall Classic. In the first game of the season the Wildcats took down Adelphi, 2-1. New Hampshire countered that effort with a victory over Rhode Island, 2-0. Kyle Urso, a senior from Lombard, Ill., was selected as the Co-America East Player of the Week, for the opening week of play. Urso earned two game-winning goals last weekend.

"At this stage after gathering all the information on our two opponents, it is evident that we are traveling to a quality tournament this weekend," Grant said. "It will be a new experience for our players, since we have never played a game in the Northeast. We are ready to play some tough games and figure out more about our team."