Oct. 23, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

Memphis/SIUE Match Notes

The Memphis men's soccer team will take on the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars on Sat., Oct. 24 in a non-conference tilt at 7 p.m., at Mike Rose Soccer Complex. The Tigers enter the fixture with a mark of 5-5-2 (2-4-0 C-USA). Memphis is coming off a 2-1 loss to league-leading Marshall on Wed., Oct. 21. The Tigers have gone 1-3 in their lost four matches.

SIU-Edwardsville comes into the match with a mark of 5-6-2. The Cougars picked up a tie against IPFW in their last game on Sat., Oct. 17.

"When we put our schedule together it was nice to have a couple of non-conference games because we started our conference schedule so early," said Memphis head coach Richie Grant. "It will be nice to look at some new ideas and get some other players involved in the game. Hopefully, we will continue our winning ways at Mike Rose."

Memphis senior Rick Alleman picked up his second career goal on Wednesday against Marshall. The Tiger centerback took a throw in from Thomas Shannon and played it into the upper 90 of the goal over the head of Marshall goalkeeper Daniel Withrow. Alleman, the team's captain, has one goal and one assist on the season. Alleman's assist against UCF was a near-goal but Parker Duncan tapped in Alleman's initial shot for the game-winning score.

Offensively, the Tigers' production has lacked over the last few weeks. Duncan, a sophomore forward from Johnson City, Tenn., began the season with four goals and three assists, but has been held scoreless since the Sept. 26 game against UCF.

In goal, Michael Goodlett, a senior from Bolton, Miss., comes into the game with a 1.29 goals against average. The Memphis netminder has racked up 40 saves this season. Goodlett has kept four clean sheets in goal this season.

SIU-Edwardsville had held their opponents to only 12 goals this season. In goal, Scott Meyer has a 0.89 goals against average while accumulating 49 saves in net this year.

Offensively, the Cougars have been led by sophomore Kevin Bielicki. Bielicki comes into Saturday's match with two goals and three assists. Freshman Peter Kelly has also chipped in on the offensive end with two goals on the season.

SIU-Edwardsville is coached by former All-American player Kevin Kalish, Conference USA's player of the year during the 1998 season as a member of the Saint Louis Billikens. Kalish is in his second year with SIU-Edwardsville. The Cougars recently returned to Division I status in 2008.

The series between SIU-E and Memphis is at 3-3-1. The Tiger and Cougars first faced eachother in 1986. In between 1986 and 1993, Memphis and SIU-E battled six times with Memphis winning the last meeting 3-1. The Tigers and Cougars restarted the series last year with SIU-E travelling to Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis. The game ended in a 0-0 tie.

Click here to watch a video with assistant coaches Nick Glaser and Mark Franklin