Oct. 2, 2008

MEMPHIS, TENN. - The Memphis women's soccer squad heads west to El Paso, Texas to take on the 8-3-1 UTEP Miners on Friday, Oct. 3. Kick off is set for 8:00 p.m. (CST).

Entering Friday's contest, the Lady Tigers have a 1-3 series record against the Miners. In the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament in 2007, Memphis beat the Miners 1-0 sending the Tigers to the championship game

"We have a tough one this weekend," said head coach Brooks Monaghan. "There is always a hostile crowd there, but our kids should be excited for that because that's where we won the conference championship last year. Motivation shouldn't be a factor, but UTEP is a very good team and we're going to have our hands full."

The 5-3-1 Lady Tigers have a 1-1 C-USA record in 2008. Memphis, along with nine other C- USA teams, split the first weekend of conference games. UTEP is also one of the 1-1 C-USA teams. The Miners currently hold the best overall record of any Conference USA team. Last weekend the Miners beat Tulsa 4-1 and lost to SMU 1-0

"This shows how strong and competitive our conference is," said Monaghan on the results of C-USA play last weekend. "We dropped a match, but we're still right in there. It's near impossible to run the table in this conference, but our goal now is to run the rest of our games."

Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (CST), the Lady Tigers head to Colorado Springs, Colo. to take on the Tigers of Colorado College. Memphis returns home to Mike Rose Soccer Complex the following weekend for another pair of C-USA contests. On Friday, Oct. 10 Memphis faces off against the Houston Cougars at 7:00 p.m. which is also U of M Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night. The contest on Sunday, Oct 12 at 1:00 p.m. against the Rice Owls is "Pack the House" day at Mike Rose Soccer Complex and will be televised on CBS College Sports.