Sept. 12, 2005

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Game #6 - Ole Miss (4-2-0) at Memphis (4-1-0)
Tuesday, September 13 • 7:30 p.m.
Mike Rose Soccer Complex (3,000) • Memphis, Tenn.

This Week
The Tigers and Rebels meet for the ninth time in school history and for the third straight season. It will be the teams' first meeting in Memphis since the 2001 season. Ole Miss is Memphis' second-most frequently played non-conference opponent in school history. This will be the third of a season-long, four-game homestand for the Tigers. The game will be the second of a men's-women's doubleheader, with the men's game against Alabama A&M at 5:00 p.m. preceding the women's game.

Looking Ahead
Another regional showdown is on the horizon this Friday, as the second straight Southeastern Conference team comes to the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. Memphis will meet Mississippi State on September 16 at 7:00 p.m. It will be the 11th straight year that the Tigers and Bulldogs will meet. Memphis has played Mississippi State the most of any non-conference opponent in its history, as the Tigers have met the Bulldogs every year in program history.

Series vs. Ole Miss
Memphis is 2-5-1 all-time against the Rebels. The Tigers' two wins in the series came last year and in 2001. Last year's contest was held in Oxford while the 2001 game was in Memphis. The teams met from 1995-1999 before taking a year off in 2000. After playing in 2001, they once again took 2002 off before playing every year again beginning in 2003.

Scouting Ole Miss
The Rebels enter Tuesday's game with a 4-2-0 record. They won their first four games of the year before stumbling a bit this past weekend and losing two straight to Saint Louis and #11 Florida State both at home. They have scored just nine goals in six games and have not scored more than two in a single game, however the defense has allowed just four goals all season. Chrissy Strini, Jennifer Hance, and Amanda Verkin each have scored two goals apiece, with Strini leading the teams in points with seven, having also recorded three assists. In goal,, the time has been split with Megan Vickery starting four games and Ann Shelton two. Vickery has a 0.57 gaa and Shelton is at 0.80.
The Rebels so far have one common opponent with the Tigers. Ole Miss defeated Tennessee Tech 2-1 just two days before the Tigers beat the Golden Eagles 7-0 in their season opener. The Rebels also defeated future Memphis opponent UCF 2-0.

Last Year vs. Ole Miss
Memphis avenged its worst loss from 2003 with a 1-0 win over the Rebels in Oxford for their first win over Ole Miss since 2001. The goal scored was an own goal at the 83:55 mark after nearly two halves of scoreless soccer. Natalie Haerens recorded the shutout in goal while Robyn Smart played the entire game on defense in contributing to the shutout. Ole Miss was ranked #8 in the Central Region by Soccer Buzz at the time. The win also ended the Rebels' 16-game non-conference home winning streak and 22 non-conference home game streak without a loss. Their last loss prior to that game was in 1999.

The Coaches
Brooks Monaghan (Memphis, 1994) is in his sixth year as head coach at Memphis, where he holds a 43-53-5 career record. Prior to his tenure as head coach, he was the assistant coach in charge of goalkeepers for five years, serving since the program's inception in 1995. Just the second head coach in program history, Monaghan became the program's all-time winningest coach last year with his 35th career win.

Steve Holeman (Wake Forest, 1990) is in his 11th season as head coach at Ole Miss and his 12th season overall. He holds a 113-85-11 record in Oxford and a 120-91-14 career record. He is the only head coach in program history. He has led Ole Miss to two SEC West titles and two NCAA Tournament berths as well as eight straight SEC Tournament appearances, the only team in the West to do so. He also began the women's soccer program at Auburn and coached there for one season in 1993.

Memphis vs. The SEC
The Tigers have a 6-19-3 all-time mark against teams from the Southeastern Conference. Two wins have come against Ole Miss, three vs. Mississippi State, and one against Tennessee. Memphis has also played Arkansas, LSU, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt from the SEC over the years in non-conference play.

Back-to-Back ...
Last year, Memphis individuals recorded goals in back-to-back games only three times. This year, through just five games, it has been done three times already. Shoko Mikami has done it twice with goals in each of the last two games, and goals in each of the Tigers first two games. Kylie Hayes has recorded goals in Memphis' last three game. Mikami and Hayes have each scored goals in four of Memphis' five games. They have scored goals in the same game three times.

... to Back
With her goal against Missouri State, Kylie Hayes became the first Memphis player since Alison Baker in 2002 to have three straight games with a goal, and it was just the sixth time is has been done. With a goal against Ole Miss on Tuesday, she can become just the second-ever player in program history to score a goal in four straight games. Meredith Smith recorded goals in four straight games in 1996. Listed below are the players in Tiger history that recorded goals in three straight games.

Name	Year
Kylie Hayes	2005
Alison Baker	2002
Alison Baker	2001
Becca Amrozowicz	1999
Jennifer Vossen	1996
Christy Caswell	1996

Home Shutout Streak
Memphis has recorded three straight home shutouts this year and four straight home shutouts dating back to the end of last year. The Tigers have not allowed a goal at home in the last 446:03. The last goal allowed at home was against Marquette on October 22 of last year.

Briones Named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week
Sophomore goalkeeper Isabel Briones had what was probably the best week of her still relatively young collegiate career and for her efforts was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week. Briones, who is in her third year at Memphis after redshirting as a freshman and only appearing in five games last year, recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time in her career with wins over UT-Martin and Missouri State. They were the third and fourth respective shutouts of her career. Briones has also already logged more time in goal this year than last year, having played just 365:30 in 2004 and already having played 450:00 this year.

It's Alive
The Tigers have recorded at least one goal in seven of their 10 halves of soccer played this year. Memphis already has scored 17 goals and recorded 18 assists and 52 points in just five games. That is already respectively 61, 64, and 62 percent of last year's total as the Tigers recorded just 28 goals, 28 assists, and accumulated 84 points all of last year (19 games). This has all happened despite Memphis losing players that were responsible for 75 percent of last year's offense.

More Offensive Facts
- Last year, Memphis' top point producer had just 15 points all season long. This year, its point leader, Kylie Hayes, already has 12 points in five games while Shoko Mikami has 11.

- Last year's top goal scorers on the team each had only six goals apiece. This year, both Hayes and Mikami have five goals apiece through only five games.

Will Third Goal be the Charm?
With her second goal of the year against Missouri State on Sunday, sophomore midfielder Caroline Barrett equaled her goal total from last year. Oddly enough, she scored first goal in the first game and her second goal in the fifth game of last year and did the same this year. Unfortunately, she did not score any more goals the rest of the season last year, partially due to being hampered by injuries.

Caroline Barrett - Goals
	2004	2005
Goal #1	1st game	1st game
Goal #2	5th game	5th game
Goal #3	N/A	??

Same Spot as Last Year
For the second straight year, Memphis was 2-1 through three games entering its fourth game, which for the second straight year was against UT-Martin. Once again, for the second straight year, the Tigers defeated the Skyhawks to move to 3-1 on the year.

Multiplying Multiples
Last year, Memphis individuals only recorded two multiple-goal matches the entire year. With Kylie Hayes recording a multiple-goal match in the 2-1 win over Evansville last Sunday, Memphis has already had three players record multiple-goal matches in just three games this year. Both Shoko Mikami and Asuka Kubota have also had multiple-goal matches.

Close Together
Memphis' second and third goals against UT-Martin were scored just :15 seconds apart. Last year, the least amount of time in between goals was 2:20 between goals by Madison Cheek and Caroline Barrett against Alabama A&M. Against UTM, Shoko Mikami took the team lead in goals by herself with a score at 33:46. Her lead by herself lasted for just 15 seconds as Kylie Hayes scored her fourth goal at 34:01 with a breakaway off the restart of play.

Everybody (New) Scores
Through the first five games this year, Memphis has had at least one player record her first career point in four of those five games. Listed below are the games and the individuals that recorded their first career points in those games.

Tennessee Tech
Kylie Hayes (Goal)
Asuka Kubota (Goal)
Kate Murphy (Assist)
Isabel Briones (Assist)
Sarah MacGregor (Assist)

Evansville
Alexandra Atkinson (Assist)

UT-Martin
Lindsey Joseph (Assist)
Emiko Schwab (Assist)

Missouri State
Katy Booth (Assist)
Lauren Everhart (Assist)

Now That's Efficiency
Not only did freshman Sarah MacGregor record her first career point by assisting on Asuka Kubota's first Memphis goal against Tennessee Tech, but she also recorded the assist just :29 seconds after entering the game as a substitute.

Now That's Really Efficient
Freshman Lauren Everhart topped MacGregor's feat by recording her first career point just :10 seconds after entering the game against Missouri State. She stole a goal kick by MSU's goalie and dished to Shoko Mikami for a goal and her first career assist.
Still, neither topped last year's quickest point, which went to Elaine Sedgewick, who assisted on a Mary Shelton goal just :06 seconds after entering the game in Memphis' 5-1 win over Charlotte on October 8th.

Neutral Success
The win over Evansville was Memphis' first win on a neutral field since the 1997 season and the first ever win in program history on a neutral field during the regular season. Memphis' only two previous wins on neutral fields came in the 1996 and 1997 seasons and both were Conference USA Tournament games. The Tigers now have a 3-5-1 all-time record on neutral fields.

Tournament Honors
As the runner-up team at the Long's Electronics Samford Classic, the Tigers had three players named to the All-Tournament team and all three were freshmen. Alexandra Atkinson, Kylie Hayes, and Laura Pfeffer were named to the team.

Mikami Surpasses 2004 in One Game
Shoko Mikami, who led the nation in scoring in Division II while playing at Christian Brothers University two years ago, surpassed both her point and goal totals from last year in just one game by scoring two goals and recording one assist for five points against Tennessee Tech. She had just three points (1g, 1a) last year while playing in just 11 games after recovering from a knee injury for much of the first half of the season.

Long Time Coming
The seven goals scored by Memphis against Tennessee Tech were the most since a 9-0 win over Rhodes on September 1, 1999, which was also the season opener that year. The seven-goal margin of victory was also the most since that same game.

Another Shutout
For the second straight year, Memphis recorded a shutout on opening day. It was also the fourth time in school history that the Tigers won in a shutout on opening day.

Goalie Helps Out
Goalkeeper Isabel Briones did something against Tennessee Tech that rarely happens for a goalie, and it was just the second time in Memphis women's soccer history that it happened. She recorded an assist. She assisted on Shoko Mikami's second goal of the day by punting the ball well beyond midfield after making a save. The punt was played out of the air by Kylie Hayes, who dribbled with it before dishing to Mikami for the score. The only other time in program history that a goalie recorded a point was when goalkeeper Heather Chinellato recorded an assist during the 1998 season.

Conference Champions
Memphis has played or will play four opponents this year that won either their conference regular season or tournament championship last year. So far, they are 0-1 against these teams this year after losing to Samford, who won the regular season Ohio Valley Conference Championship last year. Next up is Middle Tennessee (9-18), who was the regular seasons champs of the Sun Belt, UAB (10-15) was the tournament champions of Conference USA in 2004, while SMU (10-30) won both the regular season and tournament championships in the WAC. Additionally, UCF finished in second place in the Atlantic Sun Conference in both the regular season and conference tournament.

Monaghan Stretches Roster Out
With a 15-member recruiting class joining the team, one certainty is that Memphis has a deep roster. Head coach Brooks Monaghan has made use of his 26-player roster in the first five games, as 22, 18, 19, 22, and 23 players, respectively, saw action in each of the first three games.

Get Back There
Last year, then-junior Robyn Smart was moved from forward and midfield, where she had played her first two seasons, to defense. She responded by helping contribute to the school record 1.19 GAA and also managed to record six points on a goal and four assists. This year, two more players, junior Beth Keating and sophomore Halley Jo Sullivan, have moved from midfield back to defense as well in an effort to improve the depth in the backfield after three graduations. Memphis has a 0.75 gaa through three games.

Recruiting Class Ranked Highest Ever at Memphis
The incoming recruiting class of this year, consisting of 14 freshman and one sophomore transfer, was ranked 27th in the country by Soccer Buzz, the highest ever ranking for Memphis. The Tiger newcomers were the highest ranked team in Conference USA in the rankings and they were also ranked eighth in the Central Region. Below is a list of how other C-USA teams ranked in the national rankings, followed by teams that were ranked in their region.

National
27. Memphis
42. Rice
44. UCF
70. SMU
72. Tulane
76. UAB
96. UTEP

Regional
8. Memphis (Central)
8. UCF (Southeast)
13. Rice (Central)
13. UAB (Southeast)
17. SMU (Central)
19. Tulane (Central)
23. UTEP (Central)
23. East Carolina (Southeast)

From National Team to Memphis
Three newcomers on the Tigers have come to Memphis with national team experience for their respective countries. Sophomore Asuka Kubota played on the Japanese Under-19 National Team, freshman Joanna Alexopulos played for the Canadian Under-17 National Team, while freshman Aika Young is a member of the Guam National Team.

W-League Experience
Freshman Joanna Alexopulos spent her summer playing with Toronto Lynx of the W-League. The W-League is part of the United Soccer Leagues, which is the largest organization of soccer leagues in North America. The USL sponsors both professional and amateur leagues in both the U.S. and Canada. The W-League is now recognized as the highest level of women's soccer in North America due to the WUSA folding a few years ago. Alexopulos saw action in 12 games for the Lynx, whose roster also included former Tiger Yuiko Konno.

All-Americans
Two members of the Tiger roster were named All-Americans at their previous school. Sophomore transfer Asuka Kubota was an NAIA All-American at Martin Methodist College last year while freshman Chloe James was a high school All-American as a senior at Roger Bacon High in the Cincinnati area.

Alaskan Pipeline to Memphis
Memphis has a very diverse roster, boasting representatives from 10 states and five countries. One of the more unique things about the Lady Tigers is that two members hail from the State of Alaska, which is remarkable considering that Memphis is over 4,000 miles from Anchorage, where both sophomore Halley Jo Sullivan and freshman Kate Murphy hail from. According to research conducted by Matt Beltz of the Memphis athletic media relations office, Memphis is one of only three Division I women's soccer teams in the country that have at least two players from Alaska on its roster. The only other teams in the country that have as many players from Alaska as Memphis are Montana and Valparaiso, which both have three players each from The Last Frontier.

From All Corners of the World
For the second straight year, the Memphis roster has representatives from a number of different states and countries. Last year, the Tigers had players from 12 different states and five different countries on their roster and 40 percent of the roster was made up of foreign players. This year, Memphis has representatives from 10 different states and five different countries and just over 30 percent of the roster is made up of foreign players.

Mike Rose is Home Once Again
For the second straight year, the women's soccer program will play all of its home games at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. Last year was the first year that all home games were played there after only playing conference games there for the previous two years.