Memphis Tigers women crush Ohio State 6-1 to remain perfect

Thursday night was a hot one at the Billy Murphy Track & Soccer Stadium on the South Campus of the University of Memphis. But the weather wasn’t the only thing that was hot as the Tigers absolutely rolled Ohio State by a final score of 6-1. Memphis is now 3-0-0 on the season after winning their first two games, 6-0 over Southern and 1-0 over Ole Miss respectively.

Plenty of players got in on the scoring action but the headlines will belong to freshman Ashley Henderson. While a total of five different players scored, it was Henderson, a local product from Harding Academy, who got two goals. Not only did she bag multiple goals, but each of them came just seconds after she was subbed into the game. Her first came with less than a minute remaining in the first half and then her second was a long-range blast to put the game on ice for the Tigers. Coach Monaghan was effusive in his praise for her and used a word that he kept going back to after the preseason exhibition against Lipscomb.

“Potential. Potential. The transition from club soccer to here is all about the details. And she has the potential and it’s just continuing to buy into the details and studying the game. Tonight you got a glimpse of what she’s capable of. She has so much more room to grow and she just needs to trust and she’s only going to get better.”

Following that preseason exhibition game against Lipscomb, Coach Monaghan expressed some frustration with the lack of attention to detail while remaining bullish on the team’s prospects for this year. After three regular season games, he likes what he’s been seeing from the team on that front.

“Yeah especially from last game to this game. Last time I know we won the game but we weren’t overly disciplined. So we were able to use that as teaching and challenge them because of the way this team {Ohio State} plays. You’re not just marking one player and you’re not just in the same spot. You’ve got to communicate and you’ve got to shift over and that takes thinking. Rarely did we get out of shape tonight except for maybe when we started to empty the bench a little bit, and that’s ok. So the discipline is coming along.”

They were indeed disciplined against the Buckeyes. That they were able to beat them as soundly as the did may come as a surprise, despite the success that the Tigers have enjoyed the last several years (back to back conference championships and six NCAA Tournament appearances in the last seven seasons including a trip to the Sweet Sixteen last year). Ohio State is no slouch of a program. They too have had a nice run lately with seven NCAA Tournament appearances in the last eight seasons, including a Sweet Sixteen berth back in 2015. They came into this game with a 1-1 record, having beaten Miami (OH) 3-0 to open their season before dropping a 2-1 home decision to Buffalo. Despite the Tigers being the better team for about 42 of the 45 minutes in the first half, the Buckeyes came out and ran the first few minutes of the second half before the Tigers took back over. The only thing that saved them from being held scoreless was a penalty that they converted late in the game. And that’s a penalty that Coach Monaghan will want back.

“Man, we’re all competitive over here. You know it’s just who we are as a staff and you guys see me going crazy because you don’t want to take your foot off the gas and when you put new players in they’ve got to do the right thing. You hate to give up that goal but it’s an unfortunate bounce that you can still learn from. You always hate to give up a goal but at the end of the day the good outweighs that goal by a ton.”

Despite the flying start to the season with three wins (two against Power 5 opponents), thirteen goals scored and only one conceded there is no rest for the Tigers. They now have three straight Power 5 road games ahead of them: @ #7 Alabama on Sunday, @ Iowa State next Thursday, and then @ Kansas State the following Thursday. The Alabama game figures to be a supremely tough test as the Tide went to the College Cup semi-finals last year, losing to eventual champions UCLA in extra time.

“Just stay disciplined you know? We have to study film on those guys and we’ll come up with a game plan and stick to the game plan. And if we do then let the best team win. But we’re confident. We have a lot of respect for this program {Ohio State} and a lot of respect for Alabama. We’re going to have to be really sharp to give them a game and fight for a result.”

Following their three game Power 5 road swing the Tigers will return to Memphis for their next home game against North Texas on Thursday, September 14 at 7pm.