Kuhar-Pitters claims the top spot in the program record books with her 26th career shutout and her 40th career victory. For the first time in her career, she records three-consecutive shutouts and she improved her program-best goals-against average to 0.88.

“Elise deserves those records,” head coach Brooks Monaghan said. “Today was not a busy day for her, but she is still that vocal leader. She was in the game the whole time and she was constantly talking. We are excited that Elise broke the record and what a career she has had. We hope it continues throughout the season.”

Memphis held WKU to three shots in the match, all in the first half. The Lady Tiger defense did not surrender a shot on goal and over the last four matches, opponents have five shots on goal.

“I thought we came out stagnant in the first half,” Monaghan said. “We let WKU control the pace and we talked about that at half and we challenged the team to step it up. We responded and you can tell that hard work pays off.”

After a scoreless first half, Rasheeda Ansari wasted no time in getting Memphis on the scoreboard. On a cross attempt, Ansari lobbed the ball inside the penalty area, but the cross bounced off the far post and found the back of the net for the score. It was Ansari’s first goal of the season and freshman Kelley Gravlin was credited with her second assist on the year.

“I think that goal was extremely important,” Monaghan said.” We came out with a different energy level in the second half. It was a little bit of a lucky goal, but if you work hard things go your way.”

Taylor Isenhower collected her second goal of the season to give Memphis a 2-0 lead in the 77th minute. Isenhower beat WKU goalkeeper Libby Stout with a shot across the cage for the goal. Freshman Kaitlyn Atkins picked up her team-leading fourth assist on the play.

Memphis tallied eight shots in the first half and finished the match having outshot the Hilltoppers 16-3. Stout made four saves in the match, while Kuhar-Pitters earned the shutout without facing a shot on frame.

“Something we pointed out in the second half was we didn’t allow a shot,” Monaghan said. “That speaks highly of the defense we are playing really right now. We still have some things to work on, but I am pleased with where we are at right now.”

The 5-0 start for the Lady Tigers is the best in program history and marks the third time Memphis has won five-straight games in the 16-year history. The last five-game win streak occurred in the 2008 season. Memphis improves to 18-2-1 on Sunday’s since the 2009 season and has outscored opponents 47-9 with 13 shutouts in that span. The Lady Tigers bettered their non-conference road record since 2007 to 13-3-0 with the win.

The 20th-ranked Lady Tigers return to Mike Rose Soccer Complex on Friday and host rival Ole Miss at 7 p.m. Friday’s match along with Sunday’s 2 p.m. clash with Charlotte are part of “Heroes Weekend.” All police, fire, EMS, and military personnel will get free admission for them and their families with ID.

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