Aug. 20, 2010

Box Score

Box Score

St. Louis, Mo. – After nearly an hour weather delay, the University of Memphis women’s soccer team battled the Saint Louis Billikens to a hard fought 2-1 season opening victory at Robert R. Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, Mo.

“I was very pleased with the way we played in the first half,” said head coach Brooks Monaghan. “I have to give a lot of credit to Saint Louis for coming out in the second half and putting a lot of pressure on us. (SLU) picked up their game and I think they took it to us for a little while. They tied it up and had all the momentum and then with about 20 minutes to go, we settled down and played the way we are capable of playing. At the end of the day, we got the result that we wanted.”

Junior midfielder/defender Lizzy Hildebrandt netted the game-winner in the 78^th minute. Assisted by senior midfielder Vendula Strnadova and sophomore forward Taylor Isenhower, Hildebrandt converted the game-winner on a 22-yard rocket that was tucked into the left corner of the net.

“Coming in to this game as the preseason ranked 18^th team, every game counts and if we had slipped up in this game we would have dropped in the rankings,” said Hildebrandt. “Of course the winner was a big goal, but the first goal was a big goal as well.”

“Lizzy stepped up and hit that big shot for us,” said Monaghan. “Good players step up in big situations like that. We came in here expecting to win, but it was a hard fought battle.”

Alena Strnadova opened the scoring for Memphis in the 39^th minute as she dribbled inside the 18-yard box and fired a low shot that went inside the right post. Alena was credited with her first collegiate goal on the unassisted score.

SLU tied the game in the 56th minute after a corner kick was dribbled in the box and headed off the cross bar. Sophomore midfielder Ali Reimer was credited with the Billiken goal and was assisted by senior midfielder Ashley Brazil.

Junior netminder Jordan Boyle recorded the victory in goal for the Tigers finishing the match with two saves on three chances. Amber Zdanovec played the first half in net for the Billikens and made five saves while Katie Walsh played the second half in goal for SLU.

Vendula Strnadova led the Lady Tigers with six shots, climbing within 10 shots of the career record for shots at the U of M. Memphis claims its fifth-straight season opening victory on the road and improves to 10-6 all-time in season openers.

The Lady Tigers return to the Bluff City to open the 11-match home schedule on Sunday at 6 p.m. versus Samford at Mike Rose Soccer Complex.