Memphis and USF picked up wins on Sunday, March 21 to stay perfect in American Athletic Conference women's soccer play.

Sunday, March 21
Memphis 2, Temple 1 - Box Score
East Carolina 3, SMU 2 (OT) - Box Score
USF 2, UCF 1 - Box Score
Houston 4, Tulsa 1 - Box Score
Cincinnati 2, Tennessee 1 - Box Score

Memphis 2, Temple 1 - Box Score
PHILADELPHIA — The Memphis women's soccer team defeated Temple 2-1 on Sunday to earn its fourth consecutive victory. 
 
After their second road win in four days, the Tigers (6-1 overall, 5-0 AAC) lead the American Athletic Conference standings with 15 points.
 
Freshman defender Haylee Spray put Memphis in front with a goal in the 4th minute. The first goal of Spray's career came on an assist from sophomore midfielder Saorola Miller. 
 
Temple forward Gabriela Johnson scored an equalizer for the Owls less than four minutes later before senior midfielder Lisa Pechersky put Memphis in front for good with a goal in the 27th minute. Pechersky's second goal in as many games was assisted by freshman midfielder Grace Stordy.
 
Johnson's goal was the first Memphis has allowed in conference play this season. The Tigers have outscored their five AAC opponents by a combined score of 8-1 and are now unbeaten in their past 17 regular-season conference games dating back to the 2018 season.

East Carolina 3, SMU 2 (OT) - Box Score
DALLAS, TEXAS – A career-best offensive showing from Carsen Parker helped the East Carolina soccer team beat SMU 3-2 in overtime on Sunday afternoon. ECU improves to 2-3-2 on the season and 2-1-2 in the AAC while SMU falls to 1-1-0 both overall and in league play.
 
The Pirates were on the front foot for much of the first half, outshooting SMU 7-4. Five of those ECU shots were on frame, but SMU goalkeeper Samantha Estrada made five stops to keep the game scoreless at the halftime break.
 
Both teams came out firing in the second half. SMU had the first big chance when Jewel Boland got behind the Pirate defense, but her shot bounced off the right goalpost and out. Sydney Schnell and Addison Salz each had shots for ECU that were on frame, but Estrada made saves on both.
 
The first breakthrough came in the 61st minute. Tori Riggs collected the ball just outside of the SMU box and burst past a defender into the penalty area. Before Riggs could release a shot, she was brought down from behind, earning ECU a penalty kick. Parker stepped up to take it for the Pirates and calmly slotted it to the right side of the goal, opening the scoring.
 
ECU's lead did not last long. In the 65th minute, Boland found space in the middle of the field and lined up a long distance shot. Her effort was enough to beat a diving Maeve English and tie the game once again.
 
With the clock ticking to under five minutes remaining, it looked like ECU might be done in by a piece of bad luck. Off a SMU corner kick, the Pirates repelled the initial danger and were looking to clear the ball out of the ECU box, but the clear took a deflection off an SMU player and bounced into the ECU goal, giving SMU a 2-1 lead.
 
The Pirates needed a quick response and a pair of seniors combined to drag ECU back into the game. Parker, playing up near the SMU box, came back towards a floating long ball and flicked it onwards toward the Mustang penalty area. Riggs was the quickest to it, racing onto the pass and chipping over the onrushing Estrada to tie the game at 2-2 with just 1:18 left in regulation.
 
Heading to overtime for the fourth time in five conference games, the Pirates had the experience in extra periods. It did not take long for that experience to pay dividends. Less than four minutes into the first extra period, Morgan Dewey launched a long ball with her left foot that cleared the heads of the entire SMU defense. Parker timed her run to latch onto Dewey's pass and run clear in on goal, where she placed the ball past Estrada and into the back of the net for the game-winning goal. It was the second time this season that Dewey and Parker have combined for a game-winning goal, the first coming in a 1-0 overtime win over Houston.

USF 2, UCF 1 - Box Score
TAMPA, Fla., March 21, 2021 – The No. 16 University of South Florida women's soccer team continued its undefeated start to the 2020 campaign with a 2-1 win on Sunday night against the UCF Knights.
 
Sydny Nasello and Sabrina Wagner tallied USF's goals, while Solveig Johannesdottir Larsen and Nasello picked up assists in the game.
 
Defenses stood strong for most of the first half. Each team tallied three shots in the first 33 minutes to begin the game, but play was mainly contained to midfield. South Florida broke through the defensive stalemate first, with Wagner netting a goal off assists from Larsen and Nasello. The Bulls would take the 1-0 lead into the half.
 
UCF evened the score in the 71st minute. Mathilde Kack scored on a header to even the game. Five minutes later, Nasello found herself in the box on transition and was fouled, forcing a penalty kick. The junior converted, giving USF a 2-1 lead with less than 15 minutes to play.

Houston 4, Tulsa 1 - Box Score
HOUSTON – Boosted by three goals in a seven-minute span, the Houston soccer team defeated Tulsa 4-1 on Sunday afternoon as the program celebrated Senior Day at the Carl Lewis International Complex. 
 
After falling behind 1-0 early in the match, the Cougars (4-2-1, 1-2-0 American) rattled off three goals between the 13th and 19th minutes to take a lead over the Golden Hurricane (1-4-0, 1-4-0) that they would never surrender. 
 
The first half goals, in order, came from Jazmin Grant, Zionah Browne, and Mia Brascia. For all three Cougars it was their team-leading third goal of the season. All three goals were assisted by a lone Cougar as Brascia, Grant, and Adriana Hutson set-up the scores. Grant now leads the team with nine points as Brascia and Browne sit right behind with eight. 
 
Houston added another tally in the 81st minute to seal the victory when freshman Nadia Kamassah tapped in a score after a frantic sequence in front of the net. It's her first goal of the season and first of her young career. 
 
With the offense humming, the Cougars racked up 13 total shots and 12 of those wound up on target. Houston also earned nine corner kicks as they consistently maintained possession near the Tulsa net. 

Cincinnati 2, Tennessee 1 - Box Score
CINCINNATI – Kendall Battle scored the go-ahead goal on a header in the 83rd minute to break a 1-1 tie and give the University of Cincinnati soccer team its first-ever win over RV Tennessee, 2-1, in nonconference action at Gettler Stadium on Sunday.
 
A lofted cross from Lauren Bastian found a streaking Battle on the far post and the ball was hammered to the right side of the net past a diving Vols GK MacKenzie Haba, snapping UT's four-game winning streak. Tennessee (8-5-1), receiving votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll, had outscored its opponents 18-1 during the spring.
 
Battle's brace, her first of the season, came moments after Cincinnati (2-4-0) had given up an own goal after a deflection caromed off the side of the post and snuck over the goal line to even the score at 1-1 in the 77th minute.
 
Bastian got the Bearcats on the board in the 75th minute after Camryn Hartman was taken down in the box, giving UC the penalty-kick opportunity. Bastian stepped to the spot and buried a no doubter to the near post for the 1-0 lead, netting her first goal of the season and snapping a 253-minute scoreless streak for the Bearcats, who last scored a goal in the second minute of the Temple game on March 14, 2021.