Lady Tigers' Season Ends, But Not In Failure

MEMPHIS – Coach Brooks Monaghan and his team’s dreams of a championship ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament to the hands of the Louisville Cardinals.

Although the No. 5 University of Memphis women’s soccer team saw what many believed to be a pre-mature exit in the tournament, they placed themselves in Memphis lore as one of the great teams the city and the university has seen.

When the Lady Tigers defeated the University of El-Paso Texas Miners 2-1, they accomplished a lot more than winning a double-overtime thriller for their fifth-straight Conference-USA tournament championship.

With the title, the Lady Tigers became one of eight teams in NCAA Division I history to win five-straight conference tournament titles. They have also won 14-straight matches in C-USA tournament play. Ten of those 14 matches have come by shutout and have outscored opponents 34-4 during that stretch.

“I honestly can’t even put into words what we’ve done this season,” said Smith. “You think you’re lucky getting to play for one championship, but to get a chance to play for five and come up big each time is just an unbelievable feeling.”

The championship did not come easily. The Miners pushed the Lady Tigers as far as they could, but as the case has been all year, Memphis dug deep and grinded out a victory.

“(Going into overtime) we just said we have come too far to not leave everything on the field,” said senior forward Melissa Smith. “We just told each other to believe in everyone and we will come out successful.”

The Lady Tigers must have kept belief in one another because in the 103rd minute Oduro found freshman forward-midfielder Kaitlyn Atkins open in the center seven yards away from the net. Atkins wasted no time striking the ball past the Miner’s goalkeeper for the 2-1 win and the tournament title.

“It was an awesome feeling scoring the game-winning goal,” said Atkins. “It was really a dream come true.”

A golden goal win was a fit ending to a magical regular season. The Lady Tigers have seen one record after another fall this season. Senior goalkeeper Elise Kuhar-Pitters and the Lady Tigers have posted a school record 14 shutouts this season.

“To keep winning every year has made an unbelievable time here,” said Kuhar-Pitters. “I give all the credit to the defense as a whole. I can’t tell you how honored I am to play with them. It’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”

Kuhar-Pitters has cemented herself as the best goalkeeper in the program’s history and among the best all-time in NCAA history. The shutout over East Carolina gave Kuhar-Pitters 37 shutouts for her career. That moved her into sole possession of third-place all-time in Division I women’s soccer. She allowed nine goals on the season for a program record .407 goals-against-average which was good enough to rank her in the top ten nationally at No. 7.

The 18 regular season wins were also a program record. Other notable categories the team set school records in included: 11 road wins, eight straight matches with at least two goals, and a No. 3 national ranking.

“I have never been more proud of a team that I have coached,” said Monaghan. “The character of this team is unbelievable. It truly has been an honor to watch them progress and do the things they have done this season.”

The Lady Tigers sparked their magical run with stellar defense. Eleven C-USA opponents faced the Lady Tigers’ defense, but they managed only five goals combined on 40 shots with eight of them being shut out. The Lady Tigers hit a stretch where they shut out four-straight opponents, a program record.

“We always know where each other are on the field and that helps to keep opponents out of the goal,” said Simonin. “We use our experience together to shut down the other team so that offensively we have as many opportunities to score as possible.”

If the defense sparked the run, then the offense kept it going. The Lady Tigers remained offensively balance all year with 62 goals, a program record, between 13 different players. Eight of those players have three or more goals, while six players have five or more. They also recorded 47 assists by 15 different players.

More information on the team’s championship and their record setting season can be found at their home site. Statistics for the season and how the Lady Tigers have matched up against the rest of the NCAA is available at the NCAA's Division I Women's Soccer site.

The Lady Tigers’ season cannot be measured by their early exit in the NCAA tournament. As Monaghan said, not many teams can say they finished the season 22-1-1. Their run brought the national spotlight and earned the program the respect it has asked for.

“The sky is the limit for these girls,” said Monaghan. “Sure I am disappointed it all had to come to an end, but when you look at the whole season I think it has its place in history as one of the best the NCAA has ever seen.”

Lady Tigers slideshow

This is a slideshow of the 2011 University of Memphis women's soccer team. All photos are courtesy of Joe Murphy Photography.

Audio Interview with University of Memphis' Women's Soccer players Christabel Oduro and Carly Cassady

Click to listen to an interview with University of Memphis' women's soccer players Christabel Oduro and Carly Cassady or click here to download it.

Brooks Monaghan

Memphis Lady Tigers' head coach Brooks Monaghan discussing his Lady Tigers soccer team.

Lady Tigers Soccer Contiues to Wow

   The University of Memphis Lady Tigers soccer team. Maybe you have heard of them maybe you haven't. If you have not heard of them, then you need to tune in. This season has been nothing short of magical for the No. 4  Lady Tigers. After finishing the regular season undefeated, the Lady Tigers then ran away with the Conference-USA tournament title for the fifth straight year. The season has seen record after record rewritten. The team is now looking down the stretch run of the NCAA tournament where the team looks to have one of the higher seeds among the field.
   As the season stands the Lady Tigers are 21-0-1. To say they have been dominant would be an understatement. Memphis became the eighth program in NCAA Division I history to win five-straight tournament titles and has won 14-consecutive matches in C-USA Tournament play.
   It is time for people in Memphis to start paying attention to this team. Granted this is a basketball city, but what is happening with this soccer team is nothing short of remarkable. As they wait till 3:30 today to see where they will be seeded, they should sit back and take all this in. Maybe not on the same magnitude, but this run has the chance to rival the great runs in Memphis Tigers history including the Tigers Final Four run in 2008. What they have done is a testament to women's sports worldwide.  

Making way for the Higland Row

After years of waiting, the old Highland Church of Christ is being torn down to make room for the Highland Row. The Highland Row will be multi-feature building that will have shopping malls, places to eat, and residential living space.

The lot had housed the old church which had been sitting there for years gathering dust. Many people had given up on the project and felt that it would never happen, but sure enough, the church has been utterly destroyed.

It almost feels like a small victory for Memphians. In a city that is nationally known for bad things, this is a bright spot that will bring revenue to the University area.

Where the season stands

Alabama Game

Arkansas' game with Alabama will be a tough test no doubt. Anyone who reads this is well aware that this will be one of the toughest, if not the toughest, game on the schedule. So lets get down to it. The real x-factor here is the Hog defense. If the defense plays to its capabilities then I believe Arkansas has the advantage here. Granted Alabama has a great defense, but they have not faced an offense as potent as the Hogs'. If the Hogs play defense like they know they can, they will come out with the win.

Arkansas 28 Alabama 20

What did we get from the New Mexico game?

Well first, Arkansas further solidified their case as home to the number one receiving core in the country. Joe Adams was electric as always. Jarius Wright showed his leadership in the half he did play in and Cobi Hamilton dazzled. Not to mention true freshman Marquel Wade's kickoff return for a touchdown. Tyler Wilson was efficient as we have come to expect showing that he can not only pass, but run.

The defense allowed only 3 points and through the first two games, has allowed only 10 points. Jerry Franklin lead the defense in tackling as he has done for the last three years. Overall, not a bad performance at all on either side of the ball. However, there were a couple things that I saw that leave me concerned.

1. The Hogs have still not found the running game they have been looking for. Yes, Ronnie Wingo did average over six yards a carry but the team struggled all game to really find that smooth running attack Knile Davis provided. Wingo has shown that explosiveness, but he needs to be more consistent and show that he can carry the load. Coach Bobby Petrino started the game with Joe Adams at tailback which showed how in limbo everything really still is with the running game.

2. New Mexico allowed nine sacks last week, yet the Hogs failed to get to the QB even once. Against teams like New Mexico you can afford to not press the QB, but against Alabama the Hogs will need to rattle the Tide's signal caller. SEC teams will have a field day dropping back and tossing around the ball if they have all day to do it. Arkansas has the talent on the defensive line to compete with the best in the country. They need to learn to not take plays off and find that drive to get in the backfield every play.

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