Little Rock Falls to No. 20 Memphis

Box Score MEMPHIS, Tenn.- Little Rock suffered a tough loss in their season opener at No. 20 Memphis, falling 6-0 to the defending American Athletic Conference Tournament Champions.
 
Eight freshmen made their debut as Ziva Payer, Jessica Carmichael, Julia Edholm, Mari Young, Allison Morrison, Emma Thompson, Maddy Peake and Julia Curatolo wore the maroon and silver for the first time.
 
"Obviously it was a tough score-line but I see lots of positives," said Head Coach Mark Foster. "The way we battled in the second half was great and it was great for our freshmen. There is no better way to learn what college soccer is all about. That was the number twenty team in the country in the coaches' poll and we just stood off them a little bit in the first half. We got some really good fitness out of it and hopefully the girls take the lessons from the game and we'll be better from it."
 
The Tigers looked dangerous in the early minutes, controlling possession and looking lively. They found the opening goal in the 10^th minute through Tanya Boychuk after Stasia Mallin whipped in a cross to find the attacker just a few yards from the goal.
 
Memphis doubled their advantage after the Trojans were caught on the counter. Serena Dolan's impressive left-footed curler from just outside the penalty area found the top left corner of the net to make the score 2-0 in favor of the hosts.
 
The Tigers made it three after they won a free kick on the left side of the box and made the most of their set piece to put the ball into the back of the net.
 
Memphis scored three more times before the end of the first 45 minutes as Clarissa Lairsey scored a hat trick in just three minutes of play to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead going into halftime.
 
Fanney Einarsdottir registered three shots with one goal to lead the Trojan attack.
 
Little Rock looks to grab their first win of the season when they head to UT Martin on Aug. 25 at 1 p.m. to take on the Ohio Valley Conference opponent.
 
 
#LittleRocksTeam