IRVING, Texas – Memphis and SMU advanced to the semifinals of the 2021 American Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championship after picking up victories in the first round on Sunday, Oct. 31.
 
The third-seeded Tigers defeated No. 6 seed UCF, 2-0, in Memphis, Tenn., and will face No. 2 seed Houston in the first semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. ET in Tampa. No. 4 seed SMU took down No. 5 seed East Carolina, 2-1, in Dallas to advance to face No. 1 seed South Florida on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. Both semifinals will air on ESPN+.
 
After a scoreless first half, Memphis took the lead in the 57^th minute on a brilliant individual goal by Jocelyn Alonzo. The Tigers added an insurance goal by Aubrey Mister, who took advantage of a ball bouncing around in the penalty box, in the 68^th minute.
 
Memphis (12-4-1) led in shots, 20-2, and had eight shots on goal to one by UCF (8-7-1). The Tigers had seven corner kicks to the Knights’ one.
 
Caroline DeLisle made six saves for the Knights, while Elizabeth Moberg recorded a shutout with one save.
 
The Mustangs (12-3-2) defeated East Carolina (8-9-2) behind a pair of goals from Wayny Balata. Balata opened up the scoring in the 11^th minute on a shot from outside the box before East Carolina tied the match less than two minutes later off a corner by Morgan Dewey that curled in and deflected off an SMU defender.
 
SMU retook the lead in the second half off a 63^rd minute corner kick from Courtney Sebazco that Balata headed past ECU’s Maeve English.
 
SMU led in shots with 12-6 and had five shots on goal to East Carolina’s four. Both English and SMU’s Samantha Estrada each recorded with three saves.
 
Championship Schedule
First round at campus sites
Semifinals and final at No. 1 seed South Florida
(all times Eastern)
 
First Round - Sunday, October 31
Game 1 - No. 3 Memphis 2, No. 6 UCF 0 | Box Score
Game 2 – No. 4 No. 4 SMU 2, No. 5 East Carolina 1 | Box Score
 
Semifinals - Thursday, November 4
Game 3 - No. 3 Memphis vs. No. 2 Houston | 4 p.m. | ESPN+
Game 4 – No. 4 SMU at No. 1 South Florida | 7 p.m.  | ESPN+
 
Championship Final - Sunday, November 7
Game 5 - Semifinal Winners | Noon | ESPNEWS