|
Lady Tigers Face Tough Spring Schedule
Feb. 15, 2010
Memphis, Tenn. - After winning three-straight Conference USA Championships, head coach Brooks Monaghan has compiled a tough spring schedule for the Lady Tiger soccer squad in preparation for the 2010 fall campaign. “The spring schedule we put together is a tough one and that was for a reason,” Monaghan said. “I am a firm believer in playing tough competition because that is what makes you better. We are going to have our hands full. Everybody coaches the spring differently, but ideally spring helps prepare you for the fall. With our spring schedule we are going to give some key minutes to players in games against quality opponents to see what they can do. Those players are mainly freshman who didn’t get a chance to play a lot of minutes last season. It is going to give them a chance to showcase their talent against great competition.” The Lady Tigers finished 2009 with a record of 16-7-0 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season. Two seniors, Brittany Baldwin and Tori Dalton, along with junior Katie Sabet have graduated and leave big shoes to fill for the remaining Lady Tigers. With the 2010-11 signing class in the books, coach Monaghan hopes the spring schedule helps Memphis continue the success.
“For the most part, we feel like our spring team is very similar to the team we had last year and that is extremely exciting,” Monaghan said. “It is a little bit of a different approach in the spring because winning is not the only goal. Our goal is to develop our players and our team in preparation for the fall. It is exciting to have most everybody back. We will have Melissa Smith back for the spring and we hope that Laura Laufenberg will be ready in the middle of April. We shouldn’t be thrown off of the rhythm we had last year because the players are used to each other.” The Blue and Gray will open the schedule on Saturday, Feb. 20, in North Little Rock, Ark., at Burns Park against Big XII Conference members Oklahoma at 10 a.m. and Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. The Sooners finished the 2009 campaign at 7-10-2 overall and 2-7-1 in conference play. Oklahoma State ended the 2009 campaign with a record of 15-7-2 and won Big 12 Tournament and finished the regular season conference schedule with a 5-5 record. Memphis will face Arkansas State at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex on March 18th at 6 p.m. The Red Wolves will travel to the Bluff City under new head coach Tafadzwa Ziyenge. Ziyenge inherits a squad that finished with an 8-13-1 record, but advanced to the semifinals of the SunBelt Conference Tournament for the first time in program history. After hosting Arkansas State, the Lady Tigers will travel to Oxford, Miss., to face rival Ole Miss in a game scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on March 27. The Rebels ended the 2009 season with a record of 13-6-2 and were ranked as high as 25th. The schedule continues with two more Southeastern Conference foes in Knoxville, Tenn., on April 10. Memphis will face Tennessee at 9:30 a.m. and Vanderbilt at 1:30 p.m. Tennessee finished the season at 8-9-3 while the Commodores finished 2009 at 11-8-1 after jumping out to a 6-1-1 record to start the season. Memphis will close the 2010 spring schedule on April 16 against Mississippi State at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. The match will begin at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs claimed their first winning season since 2003 with a record of 9-8-2 last season. Coach Monaghan and the Lady Tigers will begin spring workouts this afternoon and continue until late April. Monaghan sat down for an interview with Memphis Tigers All-Access to discuss the 2010-11 signing class and the upcoming spring schedule and the interview can be seen by clicking here.
|
Memphis Tigers
|
