Sept. 23, 2010

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis Tiger soccer team heads north this weekend to Edwardsville, Ill., to compete in the SIU-Edwardsville Classic against the University of Missouri-Kansas City and host SIU-Edwardsville.

Four teams will compete in this first-annual event. Including the Tigers and their opponents, the Dayton Flyers will also be in Edwardsville to compete. Memphis assistant coach Nick Glaser was an assistant with the Flyers from 2005-06.

Memphis will be seeking its first victory in two weeks when the Tigers play UMKC Friday at 5:30 p.m., with their last win coming in the first match of the "Soccer for a Cure" Classic when they defeated North Florida, 6-0.

The Kangaroos enter the weekend at 3-2-1 and have beaten two of Memphis' 2010 opponents in Missouri State and Central Arkansas, who the `Roos defeated in two overtimes. The Tigers are still familiar with the Kangaroos from last season, when current sophomore David Sarabia scored a hat trick at the UAB "Soccer for a Cure" Classic to defeat Memphis, 3-1.

Sophomore forward JJ Greer scored his first career goal in last season's match with UMKC.

Host SIU- Edwardsville is still making the transition to Division I and was picked in the preseason to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference during its first season of play. Helping the Cougars cause is keeper Scott Meyer, who is second in the MVC in save percentage (.867 percent) and goals against average (0.77) through six matches.

The Tigers will have a full week of rest before their match with the Kangaroos and are coming off a hard-fought, 2-1 overtime loss to open Conference USA play against Marshall. An unlikely pair of freshmen answered the call for the Tigers against the Thundering Herd, with keeper Martin Hunter making four saves in his first career start and forward BJ Williams coming off the bench for the Tigers lone goal.

The Tigers will need to use this weekend as a last chance refine their techniques and settle on a starting line-up and rotation, because Conference USA play will swing into full effect after this tournament. The U of M begins with the toughest of the conference, when second-ranked Tulsa visits the Mike Rose Soccer Complex on Oct. 2.

Memphis to host Conference USA Tournament

The University of Memphis is pleased to announce it has won the right to host the 2010 Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament. The top six regular-season finishers will battle for the championship at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex, Nov. 10-14.

Grant approaches career wins mark

Coach Richie Grant enters this match with 104 victories, six shy of tying predecessor Chris Bartels for most in men's soccer history.

Gametracker

This weekend's match will have Gametracker provided by SIU-Edwardsville. To access the stats, click here for the UMKC match and here for the SIU-Edwardsville match.