No. 3 Soccer Faces No. 2 Memphis In AAC Semifinal Match

CINCINNATI - The No. 3 University of Cincinnati soccer team plays No. 2 Memphis on Thursday in the first of two American Athletic Conference Championship semifinals at 3 p.m. ET with the game televised on ESPN+ and live stats available on BearcatStats.com.
 
No. 1 USF will face No. 4 East Carolina in the nightcap at 7 p.m.
 
The championship final will take place Saturday, April 17 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
 
2020 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Corbett Soccer Stadium • Tampa, Fla.
 
Visit AAC Championship Central
 
Semifinals – Thursday, April 15
No. 3 Cincinnati vs. No. 2 Memphis – 3 p.m. ET– ESPN+
No. 4 East Carolina vs. No. 1 USF – 7 p.m. ET– ESPN+
 
Championship Final – Saturday, April 17
Semifinal winners – 2 p.m. ET– ESPN+
 
BACK IN BLACK

• The Bearcats finished 4-4-1 and enter the AAC Championship on a four-match unbeaten streak, winning three of four and earning a double overtime tie against No. 15 USF on April 11.
• The Bearcats are seeded third for the second time in The American's conference tournament (2017). 
• UC is looking for its second tournament crown after capturing the title in 2015 on penalties over USF.
• UC and Memphis have squared off 19 times previously but only once in the postseason, a 2-1 UC win in the 1996 C-USA Tournament. UC leads the all-time series 10-7-1.

 
LAST TIME OUT

• An 84th-minute goal by Sophie Gorman knotted things up at 1-1 and helped earn a double-overtime draw with No. 15 USF on senior day at Gettler Stadium
• Gorman corralled the ball off a header from a USF player who deflected a Lauren Bastian cross at the top of the arc, let it bounce on the ground and one-timed a brilliant in-swinger while falling down and beat a diving USF keeper with the score just inside the post. The senior from Cincinnati gave a leaping fist bump and was mobbed.

 
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS

• Nine players have netted goals for UC in 2021 with Kendall Battle (2) topping the charts.
• Vanessa DiNardo (17) and Lauren Bastian (12) top the shot callers while Bastian and Alli Pestaina lead with two assists.
• Ashley Barron, who has worn the captain's armband, leads a back line which has surrendered only 10 goals. 
• GK Anna Rexford, a freshman, has made 27 saves with a 1.08 goals against average in nine starts.
• Seven members of UC's freshmen class have seen significant playing time with Sophie Gorman as the lone senior who features regularly.
• UC averages over a goal per game on 11.5 shots per game.

 
THE BARONESS

• Ashley Barron shared the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award and was named a First-Team All-AAC honoree.
• Barron led a back line which ranked in the top half of the league in goals against average (1.08), earn a pair of clean sheets and helped freshman goalkeeper Anna Rexford rank among the league leaders in GAA and saves. Barron also scored a goal off a set piece in a road win against Tulsa. 
• She is the second player in program history to earn First-Team All-AAC accolades twice along with former standout defender Vanessa Gilles. Only six UC soccer players have earned multiple postseason first-team all-conference awards, including Barron (2019-20), Gilles (2016-17), Heather Herweh (2001-02), Tina Matlock (1997-98) and Paulette Angilecchia (1994-96).
• Barron is the sixth defender to earn a postseason league defender of the year honor, joining Gilles (2017), Christy Hoffman (2001), Tracy Pohl (1997), Nicole Thorne (1996) and Julie McCaffrey (1995).

 
CITY OF BLINDING LIGHTS

• Lauren Basitan (Rooke), Kendall Battle and Alli Pestaina (2nd) all earned All-AAC honor this week.   
• Battle was the team's leading scorer with a pair of goals and tied for the team lead with four points, netting dramatic game winners in overtime against Houston and a late second-half effort against Tennessee.  
• Pestaina was partnered with Barron on the back line for the defensive which allowed only 10 goals all season. Pestaina netted the game winner at East Carolina and earned AAC Def. POTW honors on March 29 after the Bearcats conceded one score in 185 minutes and earned a pair of wins. 
• Bastian shared the team's points lead with Battle, scoring a goal off a penalty kick and assisting on two others. She started all nine matches in the midfield and was on the AAC honor roll on April 12 after assisting on Sophie Gorman's game-tying score which led to the double OT tie against nationally ranked USF. 

 
THE SHOW MUST GO ON

• Over half of UC's lineup is made up of first or second-year players. Sophie Gorman is the only senior in the regular XI. 
• True freshmen Lauren Bastian and Anna Rexford have started all nine games while Elizabeth Fortuna and Chole Spitler have both earned starts.

 
HOMEGROWN

• UC added a pair of transfers and Cincinnati natives to the roster in GK Kate Marrs and D Grace Wolber. Marrs prepped at Indian Hill and transferred from Butler while Wolber played at Wyoming and returned home after a stint at Kent State.
• Eight players from Cincinnati sit on the 2020 roster with a total of 18 from the state of Ohio and three from Kentucky.

 
REMEDY

• GK Madison Less finds herself in a new role this season after suffering a season-ending injury in preseason training.
• Less is serving as a student-assistant coach this spring.
• She has made 42 career starts, with a 1.13 GAA and 158 saves.

 
LEARNING TO FLY

• Head Coach Neil Stafford is in his eighth season at UC and welcomed a number of new staff members to his staff.
• Assistants Rich Wall (Ball State) and Caroline Kelly (Army) and volunteer assistant Bryce Hueber are new to the staff.
• Stafford's coaching tree has continued to grow as former assistants now head programs at Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky, Oregon State and Xavier. Former assistants also sit in key roles at Iowa State and Ohio State.

 
NEVER TEAR US APART

• The injury bug has hit the Bearcats hard in 2021.
• Five projected starters or key contributors have yet to play this season, including MF Ellie Flower, GK Madison Less, F Sydney McMillin, MF Ally Sidloski and MF Julia Simer.
• MF Ying Zhan has not yet returned to the United States due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

 
LONG TIME GONE

• When UC took the field at UCF on Feb. 21, it had been 475 days since its last match on Nov. 3, 2019 vs. SMU.
• As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, UC lost its 2020 spring season, mostly used for player development, and didn't return to practice until late in the Fall 2020. 

 
GETTING ACADEMIC

• UC posted a 3.798 GPA in fall 2020, with 25 players on the dean's list and honor roll and six TopCats (4.0 GPAs).
• Soccer was one of six UC programs to earn a 2020 NCAA Public Recognition Award for an APR score in the Top-10. 
• The team had a 3.79 GPA in 2018-19, the highest of any program in the nation.

 
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati soccer, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team (@GoBearcatsWSOC) and Head Coach Neil Stafford (@UCGaffer) on Twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Instagram and Facebook.