Oct. 8, 2014

Thursday night is the start of a long two-match road trip for the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team as they make their first stop in Memphis, Tennessee to clash with the Tigers. The match is slated to kickoff at 8 p.m. ET.

The Bearcats (8-3-2, 2-1-0 American) head into the weekend with a two-match winning streak. Head coach Neil Stafford's club is coming off a Friday night victory over East Carolina, which was the program's second consecutive shutout. Katy Couperus, Danielle Rotheram and Jae Atkinson have led UC's offense this season with each tallying double-digit point totals, but a plethora of Bearcats have been contributing offensively with six players having three or more goals this fall. Natalie Smith has been a wall in net for Cincinnati with posting a 0.93 goals against average and having four solo shutouts and two shared shutouts.

// THE SERIES
Cincinnati holds a 10-1-0 advantage in the all-time series with Memphis. Last season's 3-2 overtime victory for UC was the first meeting between the two since 2004, which served as the only series victory for the Tigers.

// SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The Tigers (4-5-4, 1-1-2 American) enter the weekend on a three-match unbeaten streak. Last weekend, Memphis garnered a pair of draws against UConn (2-2) and Temple (1-1) on the road. Valarie Sanderson is the Tigers' biggest offensive threat with 13 points (six goals, one assist) on the year. Maryse Bard-Martel has played every minute this year in net for MU and has a 1.11 goals against average and a .763 save percentage.

// SEEKING NUMBER NINE
The Bearcats enter the weekend with eight wins, which matches last season's total, but Stafford's squad hopes to do something no UC team has done since 2008, garner win number nine. Since 2002, Cincinnati has only tallied more than eight wins twice: 2002 (17) and 2008 (10).

// LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR, Jae Atkinson IS THERE
Atkinson has been a very integral part of the Bearcats' offense this season with being the team's facilitator. She has racked up a total of nine assists, which ranks her seventh in the country. Her season total, which is a career high, also moves her into tie for sixth in the UC single season records book with Lori Wallace (1989). The school record of 17 assist held by Vicki Niemann (1982) may be a long shot, but Tina Matlock sits in second with 11 (1996), which is very much in Atkinson's grasp. The senior's career total is 15, which is in a three-way tie for ninth in Bearcats history (Alyson Biggs and Erin MacDonald).

// HAPPY 35^TH BIRTHDAY
The 2014 season marks the 35^th year of UC women's soccer as a varsity sport. The program began in 1980 and is the second-oldest in Ohio to Denison University. To date, Cincinnati has an overall win-loss-tie record of 341-257-49 (.565).

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