Nov. 7, 2009

Memphis/UCF Championship Match Notes

Dallas, Texas- The University of Memphis women’s soccer team punched its ticket to the C-USA Championship match for the third-straight season and will face ninth-ranked UCF for the C-USA Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Westcott Field in Dallas, Texas. The match will be aired live on CBS College Sports.

Lady Tiger sophomore midfielder Lizzy Hildebrandt netted the game-winner in the 15th minute and the U of M defense held on for its school-record 11th shutout of the season in a 1-0 victory against Colorado College. C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Ashley Berra tallied her eighth assist after serving the ball to Hildebrandt off a corner kick.

UCF (16-3-1) battled UAB on Friday in the semifinals of the C-USA Women’s Soccer Championship. UCF junior Lauren Halbert made her first goal of the season really count as she nailed the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over UAB.

Memphis (15-6-0) and UCF met earlier this season in Orlando, Fla. Junior forward Vendula Strnadova, an All-C-USA first team selection, netted the game-winner for Memphis in the 40th minute as the Lady Tigers knocked off then 20th-ranked UCF 1-0.

UCF and Memphis have met in the C-USA Tournament the last two seasons. Last season, Memphis defeated the Knights 2-0 in the semifinals. In the 2007 C-USA Tournament, the Lady Tigers shutout UCF 2-0 to claim the first C-USA Championship in school history.

The winner of the championship match earns the C-USA Tournament Championship and also receives an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship. The 64 team field for the 2009 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship will be announced on Monday night.