For just the fifth time in program history, Memphis women’s soccer will take on in-state rivals Tennessee and this is the biggest matchup yet. Both the Tigers and Volunteers are ranked in the top 15, with Tennessee’s No. 2 ranking being the highest they’ve ever had.
To help tell the story of the Vols’ meteoric rise, The Daily Helmsman spoke with Tyler Edmans, who is the women’s soccer beat reporter for the student newspaper for the University of Tennessee, The Daily Beacon.
“I really think Tennessee flew below everyone on national radars,” Edmans said about the Volunteers’ preseason expectations. “I was talking to (Joe Kirt) and an assistant coach and they (said) ‘This is the best connected team we’ve ever seen; this has got a chance to be the best team in program history.’ No one nationally saw that.”
Memphis was also overlooked to begin the season, missing the preseason United Soccer Coaches poll. Despite this, both teams were able to score massive wins en route to Thursday’s clash, with the Tigers picking up home wins against then-ranked No. 11 Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. Tennessee stunned the defending national champion North Carolina in Knoxville and traveled to Los Angeles to take down then-ranked No. 4 UCLA.
For the Tigers, this game already has a lot of history involved. Tennessee is the highest ranked opponent Memphis has faced in the regular season, and this is the first time a top five opponent has traveled to the Bluff City during the regular season. In addition, the Tigers will be looking to avenge their only out of conference loss from last season.
With the amount of history in play for Memphis and the already established rivalry between the two schools, Edmans believes that the atmosphere on the Park Ave campus might play a role in this match. “I really think one of the big keys to this game is going to be (how) the home crowd comes out for Memphis,” he said.
In terms of how it’ll all play out on the pitch, there was one name that Edmans came back to repeatedly as someone he expects to have a big game: junior forward Shae O’Rourke. “She has (five) goals through five games, has two against (North) Carolina and a goal against UCLA…She’s absolutely going to be the number one name you keep an eye on,” Edmans said.
Although O’Rourke has come up with clutch goals for the Volunteers, it’s been their stifling defense that has made waves. They haven’t allowed a single goal through five games, thanks in no small part to defender Ally Brown and keeper Ally Zazzara.
If the Tigers are going to pull off the massive home win, they’re going to have to find a way to break through the iron curtain defense, whether it’s through set piece opportunities or a barrage of shots, Memphis has to have a great game offensively to have a chance in this one.
This match has all the makings of a heavyweight fight, one that can change the course of the season for whichever team can pull off the win. The atmosphere should be electric for yet another chapter in one of the best rivalries in college sports: Memphis vs Tennessee.
The game will take place at 7:00 pm CT on Thursday at the Park Ave campus and the game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
