Mustangs Host Memphis For Senior Day On Sunday
Oct 24 | Women's Soccer
| SMU (6-12-0, 2-6-0 The American) vs. Memphis (8-5-4, 5-1-2 The American) | |
| Date & Start Time | Sunday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. CT |
| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| Live Stream | PonyUp TV |
| Location | Westcott Field |
| Game Notes | SMU (.pdf) | The American (.pdf) |
| Season Stats | Season Stats (.pdf) |
| Tickets | SMUtickets.com |
| /SMUMustangs | /SMUSoccerW | |
| @SMUMustangs | @SMUSoccerW | |
DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU women's soccer team will honor its senior class on Sunday afternoon, as they face off against the Memphis Tigers at 1 p.m. CT at Westcott Field in the Mustangs' regular season finale.
Seniors Lauryn Bodden, Rikki Clarke, Olivia Elliott, Rachael Larson and Shelby Redman will all be recognized following the match.
SMU (6-12-0, 2-6-0 The American) currently sits in ninth place in the American Athletic Conference standings and enters the contest with the Tigers on a four-game losing skid. On Thursday night, SMU's late rally fell short in a 2-1 loss to Tulsa.
Freshman midfielder Claire Oates leads the Mustangs in points (11) and goals (5) this season, including a hat trick against Houston on Sept. 25. Oates remains the only student-athlete in the American Athletic Cofnerence who has recorded a hat trick. Fellow freshman Lauren Guerra is second on the team with three goals. In net, senior Lauryn Bodden leads the team with 37 saves despite missing the first 11 games due to injury. Bodden's 11-save performance against USF (Oct. 5) is the highest single-game save total by a goalkeeper from The American this season.
Entering Sunday, the Mustangs have posted a 4-5-0 record at Westcott Field this season, while Memphis has a 3-1-3 mark on the road.
SMU ALL-TIME vs. MEMPHIS
The Mustangs are 1-6-2 all-time against the Tigers. A season ago, SMU dropped a 2-1 decision on the road to Memphis. Senior Jessica Bartol scored an early goal for the Mustangs, but the Tigers evened the score a few minutes later and then used a late goal to pull out the close victory. SMU's only win over Memphis came in the two schools' first meeting in 2005, when the Ponies defeated Memphis at home, 2-1.
ABOUT THE TIGERS
Memphis (8-5-4, 5-1-2 The American) enters Sunday's contest on a four-match winning streak and have not been defeated in its previous seven contests, going 5-0-2 in that span. The Tigers currently sit in second place in The American standings, behind first-place and No. 23 UCF.
Sophomore forward Valerie Sanderson leads the team in points (22) and goals (10) this season. Sanderson, senior midfielder Kylie Davis and junior defender Diamond Simpson were all named preseason all-conference by The American, with Simpson also being dubbed the preseason Defensive Player of the Year. In net, sophomore Maryse Bard-Martel has played every minute for the Tigers and has posted a 0.95 goals against average and has recorded 5 shutouts.
Memphis is coached Brooks Monaghan, who is in his 14th season with the team. Monaghan has compiled a 157-94-16 record with the Tigers and has led the team to five NCAA tournament appearances.
On Thursday, the Tigers earned a road win at Houston, 3-1, behind goals from Sanderson, Kelley Gravlin and Kaitlyn Atkins.
SMU BY THE NUMBERS
20: Senior forward Shelby Redman scored her 20th career goal against Oral Roberts (Sept. 5), placing her 17th all-time on the SMU scoring list. The Austin, Texas, native is one goal away from tying Marci Miller for 16th all-time.
364: Head Coach Chris Petrucelli has 364 career wins as a Division I women's soccer coach, making him one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history. Before coming to SMU, Petrucelli coached at Texas and Notre Dame, winning a national title with the Irish in 1995.
11: Freshman midfielder Claire Oates recorded a hat trick in SMU's conference-opening 3-2 win at Houston (Sept. 25). Oates scored all three goals in the first 11 minutes of the game. Oates has tallied 11 points (5g, 1a) on the season, which leads SMU, and her five goals are tied for ninth in the conference.
78: SMU ranks second in The American with 78 total saves. Senior Lauryn Bodden, who missed the first 11 games due to injury, leads the team with 37 saves, including a career-high 11 saves against USF (Oct. 5). Junior midfielder-turned-goalkeeper Lissi Lonsberry is second on the team with 29 stops.
SMU'S LAST GAME
Tulsa 2, SMU 1
The Mustangs fell to Tulsa, 2-1, on Thursday night at Westcott Field. Senior Olivia Elliott tallied the lone goal, her first of the season, for the Mustangs.
SMU (6-12-0, 2-6-0 The American) put pressure on the Tulsa defense in the opening minutes, creating several goal-scoring opportunities in the first 15 minutes of play. In the fifth minute, Elliott, who started as a forward for the first time this season, drove in a threatening cross that skipped past the outstretched foot of a cutting Kelsey Gorney.
In the 11th minute, Elliott's free kick from 20 yards out deflected off of the Tulsa wall and went wide right of the frame. Just a minute later, Elliott hit a shot from inside the 18, but her attempt again went wide right.
Tulsa (10-7-2, 3-4-1 The American) went ahead in the 38th minute when Christina Holmes ran onto a long ball from Lauren King. Holmes then flicked the ball over a charging Lauryn Bodden and into the back of the net. Four minutes later, a Tulsa corner kick popped out to Claire Maris, who drove a low shot just past the fingertips of Bodden and into the side netting.
The Golden Hurricane would carry the 2-0 lead into halftime, outshooting the Mustangs, 7-5, in the opening segment.
In the second half, the two squads battled in the middle of the pitch for most of the segment, before SMU put together a late rally.
In the 84th minute, Elliott headed in a loose ball from inside the six to put the Mustangs within one. The tally was Elliott's first of the season and came in her first start of the season as a forward. The senior came to SMU as a forward, but made the move to defense last season.
"I thought Olivia did quite well," said Petrucelli. "She's always wanted to play forward. This late in the season, we felt like we could run her out a little bit more."
In the final minute, junior Lissi Lonsberry hit a shot from just outside the top of the box, but her attempt was parried by Tulsa goalkeeper Marleigh Essler. The chance then led to a corner kick with less than 30 seconds remaining, but the Tulsa defense would hold strong to pull out the 2-1 victory.
SMU and Tulsa were even in shots with ten apiece. Lonsberry led the team in shots with four and Bodden recorded three saves.
"I think more than anything, we have to send the seniors out the right way," said Petrucelli. "I don't know how much else we can change. I think it's now more of energy, attitude and a little bit of belief."
LOOKING AHEAD
The conference tournament begins next weekend, with the opening round taking place on Friday, Oct. 31 and then the quarterfinals on Sunday, Oct. 2.
