Nov. 9, 2011

Game Notes

TULSA, Okla. - In the opening round of the Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament, the Memphis Tigers are prepared to meet the UCF Knights on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. CT. Memphis, 11-5-1 overall, earned the six-seed after going 4-4 in C-USA action this season. UCF (10-4-3, C-USA 4-3-1) is the three-seed.

Paced by the 12th-ranked offense in the country, Memphis has 10 multi-goal games and is 9-1 in those contests. Sophomore Mark Sherrod, the Conference USA Player of the Year, leads the Tigers' offense with 19 goals on the year, a single-season school record. Fellow-sophomore Liam Collins, a C-USA All-Conference First Team selection, helps set up the Memphis attack. Collins has 11 assists this season, third most in a season in Memphis' history.

Thomas Shannon, Jordan Johnson, Chandler Gagnon and J.J. Greer form the defensive back line for the U of M. Greer is a second team all-conference selection and Gagnon was named to the all-freshman team. The backline protects third team all-conference goalkeeper Conor Hurley. On the season, Memphis has recorded six shutouts, the most since 2004.

UCF is led by Warren Creavalle, Kevan George and Andrew Quintana, all first team C-USA honorees, and Nik Robson and McKauly Tulloch, third team C-USA selections. The Knights have spent most of the season ranked in the top ten in the polls and finished third in the conference.

Memphis and UCF met eleven days ago in a match the Tigers won, 3-2. Memphis struck first on a 30-yard blast from Mark Sherrod. Parker Duncan headed a ball in front of Sherrod, whose shot beat UCF keeper Sebastian Evers. Ten minutes later Collins played a ball into the box off of a free kick to Sherrod, who headed it in front of the net to Greer. Greer notched the goal, giving Memphis a 2-0 lead. UCF's Robson took a pass from Cameron Cooksey and buried it in the back of the net, pulling the Knights within a goal, 2-1, before halftime.

Senior Cody McCoy fed Mark Sherrod in the 59th minute for a left-footed shot past Evers, giving Memphis the 3-1 lead. Steven Lamberta pulled the Knights back within a goal in the last ten minutes. But, Memphis was able to thwart any UCF attack the rest of the way.

Tonight's contest marks the second time the two teams have met in the Conference USA Tournament. UCF defeated Memphis, 1-0, in 2008, the last time the Tigers played in the tournament. Memphis is 8-9 all-time in the C-USA tourney, while winning the championship in 2004.

The game will be streamed on the C-USA Digital Network and can be followed on C-USA's Championship Central page. For updates on Memphis men's soccer, go to GoTigersGo.com.

Game Notes
Conference USA Tournament
• With a 4-4 conference record, Memphis earned the sixth-seed and will face third-seed UCF on Wednesday, November 9.
• The Tigers boast an all-time record of 8-9 in the C-USA tournament, winning the championship in `04.
• Memphis and UCF met in `08, the last time the Tigers made the tournament, and the Knights won, 1-0.
• Memphis' last win came in `05 against UAB, 2-1.

Memphis, November 9th and the C-USA Tourney
• Memphis is 2-0 all-time on Nov. 9th in the conference tournament.
• The `05 victory against UAB and `00 win against Cincinnati, 2-1, were both held on Nov. 9th.
• Current-assistant coach Nick Glaser recorded an assist against Cincinnati.

Scratching the Polls
• For the first time since Oct. 15, 2007, Memphis was ranked in one of the four major soccer polls at No. 25 in the Soccer America poll the week of Nov. 1.
• The Tigers first started receiving votes in the Sept. 12 Soccer Times poll.
• Currently, listed in TopDrawerSoccer.com's Tournament 48 as the 36th team.
• Memphis is ranked 36th in the Oct. 26 release of CollegeSoccer360.com's Composite National Rankings.

Regional Charts
• Memphis is currently No. 5 in the NSCAA Midwest Regional Rankings.
• Memphis first climbed into the poll on Aug. 30 at No. 10.
• Nine teams on the Tigers' schedule are currently ranked in their respective region: South Carolina (2) and UCF (5) in the South; UAB (2), Bradley (3), SMU (4), Missouri State (6), Marshall (8), and Kentucky (10) in the Midwest; and Wisconsin (8) in the Great Lakes (UIC is also receiving votes in the Great Lakes region).
• The Tigers are 5-4 against those teams, with at least the C-USA Tourney game against No. 22 UCF remaining.

Road Warriors
• The Tigers matchup with UCF is their 11th away from home this season, compared to just seven at home, and are 5-4-1 away from Mike Rose Soccer Complex this year.
• In its eight true-road games, Memphis is 5-3.
• Memphis went undefeated, 4-0, in non-conference-road games, with wins at RPI No. 27 Bradley and RPI No. 38 Wisconsin.
• Of the Tigers three road losses, two of them were against teams in the RPI top 20, UAB (14) and SMU (12). The third road loss was to Marshall (71).

Memphis vs. The RPI Top 50
• Memphis is 3-3 versus the RPI top 50 this year, with four of those on the road.
• The Tigers have won at Bradley (27), at Wisconsin (38) and against UCF (42).