Sept. 6, 2009
Final Stats
Box Score 
Memphis, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women’s soccer team rebounded from a tough loss Friday night to defeat Western Kentucky University 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Mike Rose Soccer Complex.
“To bounce back today was crucial,” said head coach Brooks Monaghan. “We put Ole Miss behind us and let it sting a lot. We challenged our girls to play through the tough conditions just 48 hours after that game but have to get used to it. I thought we fought through it. We challenged our girls at halftime to win by outworking them. We threw tactics aside and just challenged the girls to gut it out today and they did just that.”
Freshman Bailey Pembroke netted the game-winning goal in the 40th minute giving the Lady Tigers the 1-0 advantage. Pembroke netted the goal past Lady Topper goalkeeper Libby Stout. Freshman forward Taylor Isenhower was credited with the assist after stealing the ball from Lady Topper defender Kelsey Meyer and serving it to Pembroke.
“Bailey is not a true forward, but credit goes to her for her versatility and we stuck her up there and she made me look brilliant on her first touch scoring the goal,” Monaghan said.
“I think you could tell by my celebration that scoring that goal was one of the happiest moments of my life,” Pembroke said. “I haven’t scored a goal in several years so it feels great to contribute, but if I didn’t have the other 27 players on this team pushing me I wouldn’t have played the way I did today. I give my teammates the credit for pushing me today.”
Memphis started the match with early pressure on the Lady Toppers. The Lady Tigers had two corner kicks within the first three minutes of the match. Junior midfielder Vendula Strnadova and sophomore midfielder Julia Ignacio recorded shots in the first five minutes of the match.
Junior forward Ashley Berra placed the first shot on goal for the Lady Tigers that was saved by Stout. Berra received the ball deep in the 18-yard box and placed the shot on Stout in the 15th minute.
Berra netted her third goal of the season in the 52nd minute giving the Lady Tigers the 2-0 lead. Berra got behind Lady Topper goalkeeper Libby Stout netting the goal off of a 25 yard assist from freshman forward Averi Hallman. Hallman started for the first time wearing the blue and gray recording the assist and one shot in the 15th minute that was wide left of Stout.
Isenhower scored her first career goal as a Lady Tiger in the 66th minute giving Memphis the 3-0 advantage. Isenhower scored off of an assist from junior forward Amanda Olszewski. Isenhower scored the goal from 4 yards in front of the net on the assist from Olszewski from 15 yards out that fooled Stout.
“Taylor really stepped it up today and her work rate was fantastic,” Monaghan said. “She brought something different today and it was great to see that work rate today. We were fortunate to get everybody in today and that is very important to our team. The level of play didn’t drop when they were playing.”
“It feels really good to contribute,” Isenhower said. “It was a complete team effort today. Coach said at halftime we need to come out and play hard the second half and that’s what I did scoring that goal.”
The Lady Tiger defense continued to limit opponent shot opportunities Sunday afternoon, limiting WKU to three shots in the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Elise Kuhar-Pitters recorded her seventh career shutout, passing former Lady Tiger Frances Currin (1995-97, 99) for fourth place on the all-time career shutouts list. Memphis outshot the Lady Toppers
“Our defense obviously had a breakdown last game giving up a goal but they are doing a fantastic job not giving up shots,” Monaghan said. “When you play teams like Ole Miss and LSU your keeper usually has to come up big. We are not giving team chances and that speaks volumes for our defense. Hopefully we can continue this defensive momentum and take it into next weekend.”
The Lady Tigers will return to action Friday Sept. 13th for a matchup against intrastate rival Tennessee at 6 pm (CST.) at Regal Soccer Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
