Women’s soccer
The University of Memphis women’s team has started the season 2-1-0 following a match against Mississippi State University last Thursday in which they lost 5-2.
In their season opener against Omaha, they won 4-0 as Kimberley Smit, freshman defender, led the way with a goal and an assist while also helping the defense allow only two shots. Smit is a newcomer to the team and country, as she hails from Wassenaar, Netherlands, and she said it has been a good but strange transition for her.
“For me, it was really weird because I hadn’t played any American game before,” Smit said. “I had only played Dutch football.”
One difference she noticed was with substitutions during the game. In Dutch football coaches can only sub three players the whole game, whereas in American college soccer they switch players with no limit.
“You see that because you can sub so many times, there are fresh people playing, so the game gets faster, and people are stronger,” Smit said.
The Tigers also won their second game 4-0 against the University of Central Arkansas as sophomore forward Clarissa Larisey scored two goals and sophomore goalkeeper Elizabeth Moberg earned her sixth career shutout.
However, Moberg was on the wrong side of things against Mississippi State as the team allowed five goals, and she is not letting that game affect her mentally.
“After losing 5-2, it puts a damper on how you started the year,” Moberg said. “I know I was getting frustrated with the game, so I’m sure everyone else was as well.”
Moberg emphasized that through practice, they can set their tone again as a team. Looking forward to the road game against the University of Alabama at Birmingham, her team realized UAB plays at a faster pace to get past the opposing midfield.
“For us, we need to settle the game more than what we did (against Mississippi State) instead of playing into the kicking-and-running game,” Moberg said.
Head coach Brooks Monaghan said the loss was early in the season, and his team responded well after the loss and is in good spirits.
“We’ve talked about the mistakes we made,” Monaghan said. “I have 100 percent confidence in this group of kids.”
The Tigers play at UAB this Thursday at 7 p.m.
Men’s soccer
The men’s soccer team has started the season 1-0-1, as they played two games in three days. They started with a 2-2 tie against Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, as the Tigers fought back to earn the draw with Chris Mikus, redshirt sophomore midfielder, scoring the equalizer in the 85th minute.
Their first win came against St. Louis University, where they won 2-1 last Sunday with Peyton McKnatt, redshirt sophomore midfielder, scoring both goals. McKnatt is the first player in two years to have a multi-goal game since Jackson Morse did so against UConn. McKnatt is a local player from Germantown, Tennessee, who spent his first two years at Northwest Mississippi Community College and played with Memphis City F.C. this year.
David Zalzman, senior midfielder, spoke highly of his new teammate following the two-goal performance.
“Payton is a great player who is going to help us a lot during this season, and his performance on Sunday is great proof of it,” Zalzman said. “Having him on the field is always beneficial for the team.”
The Tigers will start playing four games on the road starting with Coastal Carolina University in Birmingham, Alabama on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Zalzman emphasized that his teammates need to prepare their bodies as they play another two games in three days.
“We need to take care of our bodies,” Zalzman said. “Recovery is probably the most important part right now so that we can be fresh for our two games this weekend.”
Sessen Stevens advances the ball upfield. Stevens played all four years for the Tigers, participating in 72 matches.
