April 5, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women's soccer team earned a 4-0 shut out over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, April 5.

"Overall, I thought that we had a good performance," said head coach Brooks Monaghan. "I thought today was a step in the right direction from last week. It's not always about the results, but the way that you play. Today, we played with more passion and we played as a team."

The Lady Tigers came out firing in the first half netting three scores in the first half. Sophomore and C-USA Offensive Player of the Year struck first in the 12th minute as she put a score in from 30 yards out in the center of the field.

C-USA co-Freshman of the Year Lizzy Simonin netted a chip shot in the 16th minute of play to put the Lady Tigers up 2-0. She scored her second goal of the contest in the 21st minute from the left side of the net to put the Lady Tigers ahead 3-0 heading into halftime.

The Lady Tigers outshot the Hawkeyes 11-1 in the first half and finished up 20-8 in the shots category.

"We talked about coming out with a lot of fire this week," said Monaghan. "That was something that we lacked last weekend. I think the girls responded in a phenomenal way. I thought that we did a great job of playing with intensity through the first thirty minutes of the first half. We kind of died off towards the end of the first, but we picked it up again through the second half."

Strnadova also grabbed another score with 11:20 remaining in the second half to send the game home with a final score of 4-0. Redshirt Freshman Elise Kuhar-Pitters got the start for the Lady tigers and earns the win, but freshman Jordan Boyle who started the second half also had a solid effort in goal and contributed to the team shutout.

"I was very pleased with our performance today," said Monaghan. "We have another one on Wednesday and we have to bring that same energy and hopefully improve even on today's match."

The Lady Tigers have another home match at Mike Rose Soccer Complex on Wednesday, April 8 at 7:00 p.m. when they take on the Ole Miss Rebels in their second to last match of the spring.