Nov. 12, 2008
NCAA Championship Notes 
MEMPHIS, TENN. - The University of Memphis women's soccer team makes their second trip to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship in two years. In 2008, the Lady Tigers will face off against the University of Illinois Fighting Illini in the first round of the Championship at 4:00 p.m. at Audrey J. Walton Track and Soccer Complex in Columbia, Mo. The University of Missouri will serve as the host site for the first two rounds.
Fans can watch live streaming video of the game for free through CBS College Sports All-Access. GameTracker is also available.
"We have played with some of the top teams in the country and know that we deserve to be here," said junior midfielder and C-USA Tournament Offensive MVP Laura Laufenberg. "Every game from here on out is going to be tough, but we are very confident going into this weekend against Illinois."
For the second year in a row, Memphis has earned both a share of the regular season C-USA title and taken home first place hardware from the C-USA Tournament. With the C-USA Tournament victories in both 2007 and 2008, the Lady Tigers have also received an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. In 2007, Memphis faced UNC Greensboro, but was turned away after first round play with a 1-0 defeat.
"This year, the biggest difference is that we've been there before and now we know what to expect," said head coach Brooks Monaghan on his 2008 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament experience. "The girls' mentality has become a "No Fear" kind of attitude where they don't fear losing. That's not to take away from our team because that's just the reality the first time you get there. We're going in expecting to win."
The Lady Tigers are riding a 10 game undefeated streak that began with a 1-0 win over Houston on Oct. 10. Memphis buzzed through the C-USA Championship with 2-0 victories over UAB and UCF and a 4-1 championship game win over East Carolina. Monaghan's squad once again heads to the NCAA Championship with an automatic bid, but this time will face Big Ten Conference member, Illinois. The game marks the first time that Memphis has faced any opponent from the Big Ten Conference.
"I think the strength of C-USA this year and playing our schedule helped tremendously," said Monaghan. "There were no cake walks in our conference and obviously our non-conference schedule was very good. These teams that we could face in the tournament will not have talent that we haven't seen before. Our schedule prepared us to head into the NCAA Tournament to be competitive."
The Fighting Illini are coached by Janet Rayfield. As a player at the University of North Carolina, she was Nike Player of the Year, All-American and led the Tar Heels to the first ever NCAA Championship in 1982. She has a 92-51-11(.633) record in seven years at the helm in Champaign, Ill. This is the Illini's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance under Rayfield. She led the Illini to the first round in 2003, second round in 2005 and 2007, Sweet 16 in 1006, and the Elite 8 in 2004. This season her fighting Illini have a record of 11-8-1, finished fifth in Big Ten play at 5-5-0, and as the No. 5 seed, were eliminated from the first round of the Big Ten Tournament by No. 4 seed Michigan State.
"I got a chance to watch the Illinois game when they played Central Florida," said Monaghan. "They are a very good team and I think they are very similar to us. It should be a good battle. The Illinois coach is a legend. Coach Rayfield has been around for years and she has some special players who she has well coached. We're going to have our hands full. I think our girls will be up to the challenge."
Monaghan's Lady Tigers trek to Columbia, Mo. at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12 afternoon and will have scheduled practice time from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13. at Audrey J. Walton Track and Soccer complex. Friday's game against the Illini is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (CST). The winner will face either Evansville or host Missouri on Sunday, Nov 16 in a second round match up.
