CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team suffered its first league loss of the season as the visiting and eighth-ranked Memphis Tigers scored a 3-0 victory in American Athletic Conference play Thursday night at Gettler Stadium in Cincinnati. The Bearcats, who had been undefeated in their last five matches (3-0-2), fell for the first time since September 8 and saw their season record drop to 4-6-2 overall and 2-1-0 in the AAC. The Tigers, winners of 11 in a row, moved to 13-1-0 on the year and 5-0-0 in the league.
// NOTING THE MATCH
• Cincinnati fell to 4-6-2 overall and 2-1-0 in the AAC with their first conference loss of the year while Memphis moved to 13-1-0 and 5-0-0 in the AAC on the strength of its 11th win in a row
• The Bearcats still hold the all-time lead in the series at 10-6-1, but the Tigers have a 5-0-1 mark in the last six contests
• The loss for UC snapped a five-match undefeated streak (3-0-2) and was the first loss in over one month (September 8) when the Bearcats dropped a 3-1 decision on the road to #20 Tennessee
• Despite the loss, the Bearcats remained in a tie for fourth in the league table through Match Day #5 with six points, equal to that of both ECU and Tulsa while UCF and USF (both idle this week) have nine points to sit in second behind UM's 15 points
• Madison Less tallied four saves in the game and allowed her first goal in nearly 500 minutes of play as the first UM goal snapped the streak at 494:15, the eighth-longest in program history
• Seven different players registered one shot with Sydney Goins firing two, including one on goal that was cleared off the line by the UM defense in the first half
// SCORING RECAP
25' • After the Bearcats held much of the early possession, the Tigers got a chance to move forward and cashed in their chance at 24:11. On the play, Mya Jones carried the ball down the left side and curled a pass into the center of the area where Samantha Murphy was waiting. There, Murphy one-timed the pass toward the post and slipped it just inside the bar and the diving hand of Less for a 1-0 lead.
51' • Off a corner kick, Stasia Mallin whipped the ball in with Murphy running on to the pass. Near the top of the 6-yard box, Murphy jumped into the air and redirected the pass into the goal, doubling the visitors' advantage.
59' • The third and final score of the match came just seven minutes later. Mallin moved in from the midfield stripe and slipped a pass to Clarissa Larisey, who shot low and just past a diving Less to make it 3-0 for the Tigers.
// CLOSE CHANCES
The Bearcats had several strong chances to score on the night, but were unable to find the back of the net. The first came in the 3' as Brandi Thomsen let one fly from the top of the box, only to sit it carom off the cross bar and out of play. In the 8', a corner kick was sent to the back post where Goins rose above the defense and headed one back toward the goal, but the defense cleared the ball off the line to keep the score at 0-0. In the 41', Kendall Battle nearly struck to pull one back as she used her pace to get into the box between two defenders where she collected the ball and try to shoot past the UM keeper, but her effort rolled wide. The final chance came in the 75' where Han Tang stole a misplayed pass from the UM keeper and moved in on goal, but her shot also rolled just wide of frame.
// STREAK ENDED
With the first goal of the night coming at 24:11, the Bearcats' shutout streak came to an end. All told, Less and the defense combined to keep four opponents off the board to bring about a streak of 494:15 between the two goals. The streak started after a Lipscomb goal at 32:10 remaining (57:50) before the Bearcats posted back-to-back double overtime draws with both Xavier and Austin Peay. Then, UC went back on the road and added 90:00 in a 2-0 win at Temple before adding another 93:14 in a 1-0 overtime win at UConn. Overall, the streak, which was the second-longest in the conference this year, ranks as the eighth-longest in program history and was just 2:03 from tying the 1986 team for seventh at 496:18. This year's streak also is the second-longest in Neil Stafford's time with the program (2013+), sitting behind his team's streak of 588:19 the team accumulated in 2017.
// AROUND THE LEAGUE
The Bearcats remain in a tie for fourth on the league table on six points with both ECU and Tulsa joining them through Match Day #5. UM leads the way with 15 points while UCF and USF, both idle this weekend, are tied for second with nine. Around the league, UConn won in overtime, 2-1, at home over Houston; SMU scored a 1-0 win on the road at Temple; and ECU won a 3-0 decision over visiting Tulsa.
// NEXT MATCH
The Bearcats return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. when they play host to Tulsa in their annual Pink Match presented by UC Health. All fans are encouraged to wear pink with the first 200 fans in attendance also receiving a free pink shirt compliments of UC Health. Before the start of the match, the program will honor its eight seniors in Senior Day ceremonies.
Women’s Soccer Falls to #8 Memphis, 3-0
The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team suffered its first league loss of the season as the visiting and eighth-ranked Memphis Tigers scored a 3-0 victory in American Athletic Conference play Thursday night at Gettler Stadium in Cincinnati.
