Sept. 11, 2005

Box Score

Memphis, Tenn. - The Memphis women's soccer team recorded its third shutout of the year, all coming at home, as well as its third straight victory with a 4-0 win over visiting Missouri State on Sunday. Asuka Kubota recorded a goal and an assist while Nicky McLeod assisted on two goals. Kylie Hayes also scored a goal for the third straight game while Shoko Mikami made it two straight games with a goal. Memphis improves to 4-1 with the win.

Kubota got the Tigers on the scoreboard first after over 36 minutes of scoreless soccer. At the 36:44 mark, she headed a crossing pass from McLeod into the net to give Memphis a 1-0 lead. Freshman Katy Booth was also credited with an assist as she began the scoring play by passing it to McLeod in the left corner, who then crossed it to Kubota, who was waiting just outside the right post.

The score remained 1-0 at halftime. Missouri State narrowly missed its best scoring chance of the afternoon just over four minutes into the second half as Kate Hercules headed a corner kick from Megan Beebe into the crossbar. The Bears would not get any other scoring chances as good as that one for the rest of the game. Just over seven minutes later, the Tigers made it 2-0 as McLeod once again found a teammate off a crossing pass. This time, her cross from the right side was collected by Caroline Barrett just outside the left post, who blasted a shot into the right side of the goal for her second goal of the year at the 56:41. Kubota also assisted on the play, having passed the ball to McLeod.

A little less than four minutes after Barrett's goal, Hayes made it three straight games with a goal as she was fed a ball from defender Kate Murphy, which was a clearing pass after an MSU offensive possession. Hayes dribbled around two defenders and beat Bear goalkeeper Jackie Jasper to the bottom left corner of the goal for her team-leading fifth goal of the year at 60:17. However, she would have the lead in goals by herself for only about 20 minutes, as Mikami scored her fifth goal of the year at 81:52. Freshman Lauren Everhart recorded her first collegiate point as she stole a Missouri State goal kick about a quarter-of-the-way down the field and dished it to Mikami, who beat Jasper to the bottom right. Everhart recorded the assist just 10 seconds after entering the game as substitute.

Isabel Briones recorded her second straight shutout in goal for the Tigers, playing the entire game while needing to make just one save. Jasper made five saves for the Bears. Memphis outshot MSU 18-12.

"I was pleased with everyone's performance," said Memphis coach Brooks Monaghan. "We came out and everyone did a solid job against a solid team. We aren't completely where we need to be but we are making strides in the right direction. The young team that we have is improving with every game but we aren't completely satisfied just yet."

Memphis will take its three-game winning streak and 4-1 record into a home game against Ole Miss on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. The game is the second of a men's-women's doubleheader that features the Tiger men's soccer team taking on Alabama A&M at 5:00 p.m. The Memphis athletic department will be continuing its week-long Can-From-Every-Fan program during Tuesday night's doubleheader in which non-perishable, canned food item that are collected will be donated to the Memphis Food Bank to assist displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina. Also, fans attending the men's game at 5:00 will receive free admission to the women's game at 7:30.

Postgame Notes: The shutout was the fourth straight home shutout for Memphis dating back to last year and the Tigers have not allowed a goal at home in the last 446:03 ... With her goal today, Hayes is the first Memphis player to record goals in three consecutive games since Alison Baker in 2002 ... Memphis individuals have also recorded goals in back-to-back games three times this year (Mikami twice and Hayes once), equaling the total from all of last year in that category in just five games ... Both Hayes and Mikami have scored goals in four out of Memphis' five games.