Oct. 7, 2008

Oct. 7 Men's Soccer Notebook

IRVING, Texas - Memphis defeated No. 14 SMU on Sunday at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex, 2-1, in overtime on a Michael Coburn header. The win marked Memphis’ first win over SMU in five previous tries. It was also the U of M’s first win over a ranked opponent since the Tigers defeated No. 23 Oral Roberts. on Sept. 5, 2005. Coburn’s game winning goal came off of a Sean Goulding free kick from the right side of the field in the third minute of the first overtime period. The goal was Coburn’s first goal of the season and the seventh of his career. The assist was Goulding’s fourth of the season and was his second assist in the game. For his game-winning efforts, Coburn was named the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MICHAEL COBURN - Memphis
Sr., D/MF, Dundalk, Ireland
Coburn, the Tigers’ normal fullback, was moved to center midfielder at the end of the first half and helped set the pace for the Tigers from his new position in Memphis’ 2-1 win over No. 14 SMU. In the first half he helped clear several balls from the goal box, but was asked to step up in a new role late in the first stanza. The move paid dividens as the Tigers’ captain sparked a rally and then scored the game-winning goal in the third minute of the first overtime period off of a Sean Goulding free kick. The goal was Coburn’s first of the season and the seventh of his career. This is the first career weekly honor for Coburn.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JIMMY MAURER – South Carolina
So., GK, Lawrenceville, Ga.
Maurer paced the Gamecock defense, collecting five saves, including three in the first half, to lead South Carolina to its sixth shutout of the season in just 10 matches with a 2-0 shutout against FIU in the C-USA opener on Saturday. With the shutout, Maurer set his career mark, as he tallied five shutouts last season in 19 contests during his rookie campaign. Maurer ranks tied for first among C-USA keepers with a 0.68 goals against average this season, having allowed just seven goals, while playing every minute in net for Carolina (920 minutes). This is Maurer’s fourth weekly honor in 2008 and the fifth of his career. The four honors tie for the most weeky men’s soccer awards in one season.

SHOOTING STARS
- Memphis GK Michael Goodlett made three saves for the Tigers against SMU and earned the win in goal. He made several leaping attempts at the ball and his save in the overtime period helped keep the game at 1-1 and his goal kick helped as a catalyst for the Memphis offense.

- South Carolina F Sam Arthur tallied one goal and one assist in South Carolina’s 2-0 Conference USA opener victory against Florida International on Saturday. Arthur leads the Gamecocks with 10 goals in 10 games this season, including five game-winning tallies. Midfielder Jeff Scannella split two FIU defenders, passing a through ball to Arthur, who sent a bullet towards the net, earning the deflection off an FIU defender to net the Gamecocks’ winning tally against the Golden Panthers.

- Tulsa F Austin Neil scored his third goal and his second game-winner of the season on Saturday, with his goal at the 91:09 mark, giving TU a 2-1 overtime victory over UAB. The 15th-ranked Golden Hurricane moved to 6-3-1 on the season and 2-0 in league play.

- Kentucky F Micheal Strong set the school record for the quickest two goals in UK’s conference-opening win at Marshall, needing 15 seconds to net two goals, topping the previous school mark of 19 seconds set in 1995. Strong netted both of his goals in the 48th minute, beating the defense and keeper twice to the ball on a breakaway. Strong played only 63 minutes in the 4-0 win over Marshall, firing a team-best six shots – including three on goal. Although nursing an injury, Strong started the game vs. Xavier on Saturday but played only 21 minutes before exiting for the contest. With seven goals in 10 games, Strong leads UK in goals and points (15).

TULSA PROVING THEM RIGHT
Tulsa, the defending C-USA Men’s Soccer Champion, was chosen to repeat as league champion by the head coaches in the preseason poll. So far in 2008, they are lving up to that prediction. TU began their quest to repeat with a convincing 4-1 win at then-No. 6 SMU. Thet team was led offensively by Jeovahnni Sandez who tallied the game-winning goal. Goalkeeper Tyrel Lacey was solid in goal as well, as he logged all 90 minutes in goal and picked up five saves.

Tulsa stayed on the winning path last weekend when it downed UAB, 2-1, in overtime to improve to 6-3-1 overall and 2-0 in the league standings. Forward Austin Neil scored his second game-winner of the season and his third career goal in the contest with just 1:09 ticked off the clock in the first overtime period. Neil’s goal was scored off a cross by Joe Salem from just six yards out, while Salem headed in the first goal of the contest for TU off a corner kick taken by Chris Taylor at the 36:53 mark.

For his efforts in the UAB win, Salem was named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week. Salem scored the game-tying goal against UAB and then picked up the assist on Neil’s game-winner. The goal and the assist were his firsts of the season and he has tallied four goals and four assists for 12 career points.

KNIGHTS ALSO 2-0
Visiting UCF fell behind in the first half before scoring the game’s final three goals to down Marshall 3-1 in Conference USA action on Saturday. Freshman Kyle McEntee tallied his first two goals of his career in the second half for the Knights to help keep them atop the league standings along with Tulsa at 2-0.

McEntee broke a 1-1 halftime tie in the 62nd minute, scoring unassisted when he beat a trio Herd defenders and slipped a shot past the keeper for the 2-1 lead. In the 70th minute, McEntee gave the Knights a cushion with his second goal , taking a pass from KyleEllis and scored in front of the net.

Kevean George had the Knight goal in the first half to tie the contest. Yaron Bacher tilled his third assist of the season and GK Sean Johnson collected seven saves to earn the victory.

UK SPLITS, GRABS A LEAGUE WIN
After posting a 4-0 Conference USA opening win over Marshall, Kentucky stepped out of conference play in a 1-0 loss to Xavier on Saturday.

UK opened conference play in dominating fashion, netting four goals in its fifth shutout win of the season at Marshall. Dan Williams and the UK defense extended its scoreless streak to 314 minutes in the win, with Williams collecting six saves. Michael Strong, a senior forward, set the school record for quickest two goals in a game, needing 15 seconds to net the second and third goals of the game.

In the loss to Xavier, UK found itself without two of its major offensive threats due to injury, as Strong left in the 21st minute and freshman Taylor White (2 goals, 2 assists) did not play.