Sept. 11, 2003

Memphis, Tenn.-- - The University of Memphis women's soccer team will travel to Springfield, Mo., this weekend for a pair of matches against Southwest Missouri State and Drury, respectively. The two matches will be the final non-conference tests before the Lady Tigers swing into Conference USA play the next weekend against Louisville and Cincinnati.

The Lady Tigers will play Southwest Missouri State Friday, at 7 p.m., then travel across town to play Drury on Sunday at Noon. "This is a big weekend for us with conference matches just one week away," Head coach Brooks Monaghan said. "We are playing much better as a team here lately, but we still have to learn how to finish off a match with a victory. Hopefully we will be able to do that in Springfield."

Memphis (0-2-2) and Southwest Missouri State (0-2-2) have squared off five times in their series with the Bears holding a 3-1-1 advantage. The two teams have a pair of common opponents from the early season as both squads were shutout by Ole Miss while the Bears battled Mississippi State to a 1-1 draw. The Bulldogs got the best of Memphis 3-1 in the season opener for the Lady Tigers.

On Sunday, Drury and Memphis will face each other for the first time. The Panthers (3-1-0) have won three-straight matches after dropping their opener to UNLV. All three victories came by one goal.

The Lady Tigers have played to a pair of double-overtime draws against Evansville and Southeast Missouri State in their last two matches after opening their season with a back-to-back losses.

Memphis will open C-USA play on the road Friday, Sept. 19, at Louisville, then travel to Cincinnati for a Sunday , Sept. 21, match against the Bearcats at 1 p.m.