BOX SCORE
TAMPA, Fla. – On Sunday afternoon at Corbett Stadium the No. 2 seed Memphis Tigers shut out No. 1 USF, 3-0, to claim its first ever American Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championship and an automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Sophomore Clarissa Larisey scored twice to power the Tiger offense while senior Chanel Hudson-Marks anchored a defense that recorded its second-straight American Championship clean sheet. Larisey and Hudson-Marks were recognized as the Most Outstanding Offensive and Defensive Players, respectively.
The No. 19/18 nationally-ranked Tigers entered the match a perfect 10-0-0 on the road this season and handed No. 16/11 USF its first home loss of the year and first American home loss since August of 2016.
Memphis came out strong and dictated the pace of play early-on as they notched their first goal in just the sixth minute.
Off a deep throw-in in the USF zone from senior Marie Levasseur, rookie Tanya Boychuk quickly passed across the box to the feet of Larisey who buried the shot, down and left, to put Memphis in the driver’s seat.
USF was able to fend off the rest of the Tiger attack in the first 45 but Memphis broke through again in the 54
th as Larisey put an impressive move on the goalkeeper and shot into an empty net.
15 minutes later freshman Caroline Duncan followed suit with a nifty move of her own, moving the ball right to left across the extended keeper for another clean-shot shot into the goal.
USF continued to press late into the match but Memphis’ defense stood tall as their back line allowed just three shots on goal; all saved by sophomore Elizabeth Moberg. The Tiger D did not allow USF to take a single corner, the first time the Bulls failed to do so this season.
The NCAA Selection Show is set for Monday, November 5 at 4:30 p.m., on NCAA.com. Memphis has already qualified with the conference’s automatic qualifier and USF will await its placement as they entered the week No. 17 in the RPI.
2018 American Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team
Kelli Burney – USF
Chanel Hudson-Marks – Memphis
Jayda Hylton-Pelaia – ECU
Clarissa Larisey – Memphis
Marie Levasseur – Memphis
Stasia Mallin – Memphis
Aubrey Megrath – USF
Kristen Scott – UCF
Melanie Stiles – ECU
Vera Varis – UCF
Evelyne Viens – USF
Most Outstanding Offensive Player
Clarissa Larisey – Memphis
Most Outstanding Defensive Player
Chanel Hudson-Marks – Memphis