The eighth-ranked Memphis Tigers took the field at the Park Avenue Campus for the first of a two-game homestand against the North Texas Mean Green, cruising their 11th win of the season, 4-1.
The home team used an offensive assault and tons of pressure to overwhelm the visitors, ending the evening with 20 shots, half of which were on goal.
With this result, Memphis remains one of just three undefeated teams after Thursday’s slate of games and looks poised to make a run in both the American Conference tournament and NCAA Tournament.
The game started with an absolute barrage from the Tigers—six shots, two of which were on goal, and three corners within the first five minutes of the game. Despite that, the home team was unable to put any of them away and conceded a goal in the 14th minute.
“To start the game, I thought we had great energy,” Memphis head coach Brooks Monaghan said after the match. “Honestly, for me, (when Memphis conceded) I was never panicked because I’m around these kids all the time. I thought they handled it pretty well.”
The Tigers collected themselves and went right back to work creating plenty of chances for themselves when in the 30th minute, sophomore forward Elise Perron found a pass from Mihiro Furuya and sneaked it by the keeper to tie the match at one.
Just sixty seconds later, Perron would get fouled in the box which set up Ashley Henderson to drill a penalty kick in the left side of the goal to give Memphis a 2-1 lead going into halftime.
“That Tulsa game was a struggle for her,” Monaghan said about Perron’s performance. “She raised her hand and said it. That’s the response you want, right? At the end of the day, all levels (of) all sports, people have off days. I think the true character shines when the next opportunity comes. She took advantage of that.”
The second period featured more of the same unrelenting pressure from Memphis. This aggressive style of play culminated in one of the prettiest assists of the season when, in the 70th minute, Henderson perfectly bent a crosser to Ai Kitagawa for a rocket of a header to give her squad a 3-1 lead. “That was a world class goal,” Monaghan said.
After winding the clock down a little bit, senior forward Flavie Dubé sent the dagger in the back of the net in the 74th minute to secure Memphis the win. With just four games left in the regular season, there doesn’t seem to be very much that can stop this team right now.
The Tigers will be back in action at 6 p.m. on Sunday to take on the FAU Owls to finish off a two-game homestand. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
