Tuesday, September 25, 2001

Men’s soccer splits matches in tourney
By Dan Smith
Skiff staff

In the days leading up to Friday’s game, associate head coach Blake Amos said the men’s soccer team needed to create more scoring opportunities.

Thirty-eight shots on goal later, the Frogs (2-3-1, Conference USA 1-0-0) captured a 4-2 win over Memphis in the first game of the TCU-Adidas Men’s Classic, but dropped the second game of the tourney Sunday to Wisconsin, 2-0.

Erin Munger - Photo Editor Freshman defender Jason Wiley maneuvers the ball around Memphis forward Lars Thorsten Friday. The Frogs won 4-2 Friday, but were shut out 2-0 Sunday against Wisconsin.

“Once you score, your confidence keeps building,” Amos said. “We were patient and ended up with four goals.”

The team had struggled to score goals coming into the inaugural tournament, Amos said.

In practice the team worked on scoring opportunities last week, and it led to four goals this weekend, doubling the team’s season total.

Playing in front of the largest crowd in TCU men’s soccer history, 584 spectators watched the Frogs start the match strong. In the first half junior forward Michael Blackburn, sophomore forward Matt Chambers and senior midfielder Nick Baker each scored goals.

Memphis tried to fight its way back into the game during the second half in the 71st minute when midfielder Justin Sralka scored. The Frogs quickly came back in the 76th minute with a goal of their own from junior forward Nick Browne to put the match out of reach.

The Frogs took a total of 19 shots against Memphis to claim their first home win of the season.

TCU had difficulty scoring in the second game. Wisconsin jumped ahead by scoring two goals on the Frogs in the first half.

“The goals were big let downs,” Baker said.

The second half started with a red card given to Wisconsin defenseman Mike Congiu, giving the Frogs a one-man advantage for the entire second half. The second half was dominated by goalkeeping from both teams. Wisconsin senior Moriba Baker notched 10 saves on 19 shots. TCU junior Mike Lahoud only gave up the two early goals.

“We stayed in the game and had plenty of chances,” Amos said. “We gave two goals and had to chase them the last 45 minutes.”

The Frogs’ next game is against Southern Methodist 5 p.m. Thursday at Gravey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium.

Sunday, SMU (6-0-0) shut out Memphis, 7-0.

TCU travels to Missouri Saturday to play undefeated Saint Louis (4-0-0).

Dan Smith
d.r.smith@student.tcu.edu