Memphis Women’s Soccer Beats Rice 4-1

With first place in the American Athletic Conference on the line Thursday night at the Billy Murphy Track and Soccer Stadium, the Memphis women’s soccer team did not disappoint. They came out with a purpose and were the better team for most of the night. After 90 minutes, they were 4-1 winners over the visiting Rice Owls.

Following the Tigers last home game against East Carolina, Coach Brooks Monaghan likened the draw to a loss and hoped that his team would learn from it.

“I think they learned from the last game. Maybe the last two games.” he said. “Because the biggest thing was to bring confidence and fire to this game. And I don’t feel like we’ve been bringing that. I feel like we’ve kind of been playing maybe to the level of the competition. And tonight, they responded and they brought the energy. They brought what we asked them to bring.”

The Tigers certainly brought the fire and intensity early on as they took the lead less than 15 minutes into the game as Ashley Henderson took advantage of some lax defending to put the Tigers in front 1-0. That was a lead Memphis would take into the locker room. They came out at the start of the second half, again the more intense side, and that intensity was rewarded with a goal from Momo Nakao. But Rice was fighting for the first place spot in the AAC too and responded almost immediately to halve the deficit. The Tigers, however, showed good poise and responded well. Ally Casey made it 3-1 and then Anne Valerie Seto scored another header off a corner kick to wrap up the 4-1 win for the Tigers.

Coach Monaghan definitely liked the way his team responded to the Rice goal.

“Yeah, I liked the way they responded.” he said. “You know that’s something for us to learn from. They always say that, after a goal, the next five minutes is crucial. Made a mental mistake by playing a ball that they picked off but yes, the way we responded after that? I’ve coached teams where their heads go down and that didn’t happen so I was very pleased with that.”

One player who stood out for the Tigers, despite not scoring a goal, was Anna Hauer. For much of the first half, Hauer was everywhere for Memphis and had a number of shots that forced smart saves from the Rice keeper. She’s one player that Coach Monaghan felt could elevate her game.

“She was a specific player that we challenged to step it up a notch because of what she’s capable of. And you know, she probably hasn’t had the best match in the last few games. And that’s ok. I mean, the best players in the world go through that. But it’s how you respond to that. So, she responded extremely well and I thought this was probably, if not her best, one of her best performances this season.”

The Tigers have two games remaining in the regular season. First is a road trip to North Texas on Sunday and then the final home game of the season is back at the Billy Murphy Track and Soccer Stadium on Thursday, October 31. Kickoff against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane is set for 7pm.