Oct. 21, 2005

Box Score

Memphis, Tenn. - In a complete reversal of last Friday night's win over UAB, Memphis missed three golden scoring chances earlier in the game and this time it was the opponent that scored the lone goal of the game late in the second half as UCF scored in the 75th minute to defeat the Tigers 1-0. Memphis drops to 10-5 overall, 4-2 in Conference USA with the loss. It is only the second time Memphis has been shutout this year.

Memphis had three excellent scoring chances in the game, but were unable to finish any of them. Late in the first half, Kylie Hayes had a breakaway opportunity after being fed a long pass, but UCF keeper Julie Snaman came off her line and stopped Hayes' shot a point-blank range. Then in the second half, about four minutes apart, Memphis had its other two great chances of the game. Shoko Mikami put on a nifty move to beat her defender and dribbled down the endline toward the goal and then dumped off a pass to Asuka Kubota out in front of the goal, just to the left. Kubota's shot went off the post and crossbar before being cleared. Then, about four minutes later, Mikami had a similar breakaway chance to Hayes' earlier but once again, Snaman came off her line to make the point-blank save.

UCF scored the lone goal of the game on a corner kick. Two outstanding saves by Tiger keeper Isabel Briones led to two successive Golden Knight corner kicks. On the second kick, Courtney Baines put up a well-placed kick that found the head of Shannon Wing, who headed the ball into the goal just out of the reach of Briones. A Memphis defender attempted to clear the ball but she cleared it from inside the goal after the ball had already crossed the goaline.

Despite allowing the goal, Briones had another good night in goal, this time making eight saves after making nine in each of the last two games. She continues to have a 0.98 goals against average, which is on pace to break the school record for gaa in a season. UCF outshot Memphis by a slim 16-14 margin, recording one more shot than the Tigers in both halves.

"I thought it was an evenly-played game for the most part. We probably had the most good scoring chances but we couldn't finish any of them and they were able to finish one of their good chances," said Memphis coach Brooks Monaghan. "This one hurts but we have to put it behind us quickly because we have another important game on Sunday."

The Tigers close out their home schedule against Southern Miss on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Postgame Notes: Courtnee Melton and Robyn Smart, the only two seniors on the team, were honored after the game for Senior Night ... This was just the second time this year that Memphis had been shutout ... All of the Tigers' five losses have been by one goal, two by 1-0 scores, and two by 3-2 scores ... For the second time this year, Memphis had its three-game winning streak snapped.