Oct. 25, 2009

Final Stats

Box Score

Greenville, N.C. - The University of Memphis women’s soccer team completed its 2009 road schedule with a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Bunting Field in Greenville, N.C. The Lady Tigers improve to 13-5-0 (8-2-0 C-USA) and have won four straight matches and six of their last seven while East Carolina falls to 8-7-3 (3-6-1 C-USA).

“East Carolina is a tough place to play and they are hard to score on,” head coach Brooks Monaghan said. “It’s a small field and that makes things difficult. We weren’t at our best in the first half, but we talked about our midfield taking over the game at halftime and they did just that in the second half. Our backs were really solid throughout the game and I was really proud of that. Our forwards did a great job and I was really proud of the way Lizzy Simonin and Averi Hallman played. Neither of them scored goals, but they had good games without the ball.”

Freshman forward Taylor Isenhower posted her first career multiple goal match with the game-tying and game-winning goal. The Lenexa, Kan. Native, connected on her first goal of match after freshman forward Averi Hallman served the ball inside the penalty box where Isenhower collected the ball and powered the ball past Pirate goalkeeper Jen Kurowicki. Hallman was credited with her team-leading sixth assist of the season on Isenhower’s third goal of the season.

Sophomore midfielder Lizzy Hildebrandt tallied her first career assist in the 80th minute after she found Isenhower open just outside the goal box. Isenhower fired the ball over Kurowicki and gave Memphis the lead with 10 minutes to play.

“I thought Taylor (Isenhower) had a really good game,” Monaghan said. “She played as a true center forward and she had the right mentality in today’s match. She is a very dangerous player when she has that mentality. Consistency and hunger are what we have wanted to see out of her and she had that today.”

East Carolina opened the scoring late in the 33rd minute after a throw in from the left side. Pirate forward Bailey Wilcox collected a loose ball in the penalty area and found the back of the net.

“We were mismatched and we had a poor clearance out of the back and they punished us for it,” Monaghan said. “They are very good at set pieces and that’s how they score all their goals. We rebounded well from that and our backs shut them down after that.”

With Sunday’s victory, the senior class of Brittany Baldwin, Tori Dalton, and Laura Laufenberg have eclipsed the school record for the most wins by a graduating class. With 56 wins as a class, the senior class will be honored on Thursday night at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex as the winningest class in school history.

“Credit goes to those seniors but it really shows how far this program has come over the years,” Monaghan said. “This program has come a long way and we are at a level that we can beat anybody we play and that’s credit to their hard work and character. They deserve this record for sure.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Elise Kuhar-Pitters notched her 12th victory of the season climbing to second place in school history for victories in a single season. The Spokane, Wash. native, has now posted 20 career goalkeeping victories and is only the third Lady Tiger to accomplish that feat in school history. Kuhar-Pitters is one victory shy of tying Katarina Wicksell for the second-most victories in a career at the U of M.

Memphis outshot the Pirates 20-14 and held an 8-6 shots on goal advantage. Simonin and Hallman lead Memphis with four shots each. Isenhower had three shots followed by Vendula Strnadova and Julia Ignacio with two shots each. Kuhar-Pitters finished with five saves while Kurowicki posted six saves.

The Lady Tigers will return to the Mike Rose Soccer Complex for the final home game of the regular season as they will battle the UAB Blazers on Thursday Oct. 29th at 7 pm. Memphis has secured a spot in the C-USA Tournament with two wins this weekend and action will begin at the C-USA Tournament at SMU on Nov. 4th.