Oct. 22, 2006

Final Stats

MEMPHIS - The Memphis women's soccer team celebrated the careers of its four seniors in style Sunday, blowing by Houston 3-0 in its final home match of the season.

Memphis (9-6-2, 4-2-1 C-USA) already secured a berth in the Conference USA Tournament with its win over Rice on Friday and is now in position to earn a high seed heading into its final match of the season at UAB on Saturday.

"We know that we're in the tournament now, but we're working to secure a good seed," Memphis head coach Brooks Monaghan said. "We're not just satisfied with making it. We really need to set ourselves in good position to win the whole thing."

The Lady Tigers jumped ahead of Houston on a goal by Maiko Higashiyama in the 12th minute and never looked back. It was the second game-winning goal of the weekend for Higashiyama, who won Memphis' match against the Owls with a goal in double overtime.

Despite being out shot 7-2 in the half, Houston was able to stave off several Memphis attacks to keep the score 1-0 at halftime.

The second period was all Memphis, as the Lady Tigers out shot Houston 17-2 and took seven corner kicks to just one for the Cougars.

Memphis went up 2-0 13 minutes into the second half when senior Melissa Savage scored her second goal of the year off of a rebound. The final score came from Shoko Mikami, who picked up her 12th goal of the season and the 28th of her Memphis career.

Emiko Schwab tallied two points with assists on each of the first two goals. Junior Harumi Someya was credited for the assist on Mikami's score.

The win was the 21st for Memphis goalkeeper Isabel Briones and ties the junior for No. 1 on the all-time school wins list.

It was the last home match for both Mikami and Savage along with fellow seniors Geneil Newbern and Nicky McLeod. The foursome was honored with a ceremony following the match.

"Of course I'm happy because we won, but it was special today because we were able to send these seniors off on a good note," said Mongahan. "Each one them have played very significant minutes for us, and they've all helped to lift our soccer program during their time here."