Lady Pirate Soccer Fall To Memphis 4-1
October 10, 2004 | Soccer
MEMPHIS, TENN. ? The East Carolina women's soccer team was unable to overcome two first half goals by the Memphis Tigers and dropped their third Conference USA match of the season 4-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The first half was relatively quiet for the first 20 minutes, as neither team even recorded a shot until the ninth minute. However, the Tigers (10-3-0, 4-1-0) got on the scoreboard first as Robyn Smart scored her first goal of the year when she headed in a corner kick by Vicki Greenwell at the 20:30 mark.
Memphis made it 2-0 at 38:19 when Shoko Mikami, who led Division II in both goals and points per game last year while playing at Christian Brothers University, scored her first goal as a member of the Tigers. She took a centering pass in front of the goal from Monica Powell and one-timed it past ECU keeper Lauren Church. Annika Moller was also credited with an assist on the play.
ECU (3-8-2, 1-3-1) cut the lead to 2-1 at the 64:46 mark when Tara Shaw scored her first goal of the year. She took a pass off a free kick by Melissa Penney and was able to finish her shot after the pass went all the way through the box and by several Memphis defenders. However, it would only be a one-goal game for less than a minute as Moller scored her second goal of the weekend when she finished on a 20-yard blast from just inside the right corner of the box to make it 3-1.
The Tigers made the final score 4-1 at the end of the game as freshman Kelsey Irish scored her first career goal. After entering the game with just over five minutes to play, she dribbled the ball down the left sideline and unleashed a shot in the box that found the back of the net just as the horn sounded the end the game.
Church faced 14 shots and recorded three saves in 90 minutes of play in the box for the Pirates. Penney recorded her second assist of the season and her seventh of her career.
The Pirates will be back in action Friday, Oct. 15 when they host Tulane at Bunting Field. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
MEMPHIS 4, ECU 1
MEM: 20:30 SMART, Robyn (1) - Header off corner kick, upper left
MEM: 38:19 MIKAMI, Shoko (1) - One-timer off centering pass
ECU: 64:46 SHAW, Tara (1) - Through ball off free kick
MEM: 65:31 MOLLER, Annika (2) - 20-yard blast from right corner of box
MEM: 90:00 IRISH, Kelsey (1) - Breakaway just before end of game
Shots: ECU 8, MEM 14
Corners: ECU 3, MEM 7
Saves: ECU 4, MEM 1
Fouls: ECU 11, MEM 9
Att: 127
