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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - On Saturday, Memphis' six seniors will walk on to the pitch of the Mike Rose Soccer Complex for the last time in their careers as soccer players donning the Blue and Gray uniforms of the Memphis Tigers. It has been a season and a career filled with ups and downs for Michael Coburn, Sean Goulding, Tripp Harkins, Thomas Hyland, Jordan Lynn and Robert Sausaman. The Tigers started the 2008 season with a record of 2-7 before getting a season-changing overtime upset over No. 15 SMU on Oct. 5. Memphis now finds themselves in third place in the conference standings behind Tulsa and Kentucky.
"It is a strange feeling, it comes around so fast," Sausaman said. "You don't think about it too much at the beginning of the season. You are thinking you have eighteen games plus whatever post-season we have. Game by game it keeps just getting shorter and shorter and now all of the sudden it is the end. I can't even describe the emotions because I am having some trouble coming to grips with it myself. I have been here so long and now it is about over."
Coburn, a fifth-year senior for the Tigers, went through similar emotions last season. The product of Dundalk, Ireland, arrived in 2004 and should have been part of last year's senior class with Jared Britcher, Adam Montgomery, Tyler Strom and Kevin Walsh, but Coburn had to sit out the 2006 season with an ankle injury.
"I am really excited," Coburn said about senior night. "I am really looking forward to it. I was thinking about it when the boys were doing it last year and it should have been me."
Coburn is the only person left on the roster from Memphis' 2004 Conference USA Championship squad. The defender came into the program as a freshman and started 18 matches for Richie Grant's Tigers. With early success, Coburn thought Conference Championships would be a staple throughout his Memphis career.
"To me, it was something I thought would happen every year after walking in as a freshman and winning the conference tournament in my first year here," Coburn said. "Winning the conference tournament and going to the NCAA tournament as a freshman was pretty memorable. To me, it wasn't as special as it was to the seniors at the time, because they had never got there before. That is the main highlight of my career, but there are a lot of other highlights, as well."
One of those other memorable moments for all of the seniors, especially Coburn, happened when the Tigers took down No. 15 SMU for the first time ever. Memphis was 0-5-0 in five previous match-ups with the Mustangs. The Tigers were down 1-0 at halftime to Tim McClement's SMU squad, but Harkins, a senior midfielder from Jackson, Miss., headed the ball in off of a double-assist from fellow seniors Lynn and Goulding.
"It was a great feeling," Harkins said. "It was one of the more memorable moments for me because we hadn't ever beat SMU before. I thought that we were playing really well and definitely good enough to beat them. I thought that when we tied them, we were definitely going to go on and beat them. Our season has been up and down and a lot of emotions came out in that game for me and the rest of the team."
The game would go to overtime where in the third minute freshman Parker Duncan won a battle with a SMU defender and was fouled which set up a Goulding free kick from the right side of the box. Goulding curved the ball perfectly and hit Coburn who headed the ball past SMU goalkeeper Craig Hill for the game-winner which turned into a rather quick team dog pile.
"I was just at the right place at the right time. I was glad we beat them finally," stated Coburn.
Sausaman and Lynn also shared their thoughts on the impact of the SMU game on the rest of the season for the Memphis Tigers.
"Beating such a big team and the way we did it and the way our season was going," Sausaman said. "That game kind of gave us a boost for the second half of the season."
Lynn, a native of Rockwall, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, had extra incentive to defeat SMU. With a lot of friends of the opposing sideline and who attend SMU, the upset over the Mustangs was an extra special one for the Texan.
"I would definitely say one of the most memorable games for me has been the SMU game this season because it was on TV," Lynn said. "To get a win against them and all of my friends in Dallas was pretty fun."
The SMU game was the second televised game in Memphis history. The game was broadcast live by CBS College Sports and was called by Ben Holden and Richard Broad. Holden and Broad would come back to call the Tulsa game, which held a much different result for the Tigers.
Following Memphis' defeat of SMU, the Tigers have gone 3-2-1, with their only losses coming to No. 3 Creighton and No. 9 Tulsa. All six of the seniors credit the turnaround to a change in the mindset of the team going into and following the defeat of No. 15 SMU.
"I think we had a good week of practice and that helped us," Harkins added. "The spirit of everybody in the camp was great. We knew we had to prepared for the SMU game. I think we all just had that mindset the entire week. Since the season had been up and down, we just prepared to go out there and give it are all."
"I thought a lot of us thought we would be able to coast through the season because there is a lot of talent on this team," Goulding added. "We really walked through some of the games. A lot of the guys started to come together and build a team camaraderie. Just recently, I think a lot of the seniors have realized it is going to be our last game and that we need to step up because we won't have another chance to win the conference. The team has been a lot more physical and there has been a lot of passion involved and I think that has a lot to do with the games we have started to win."
Coburn points to being able to go into the film room and pinpoint the mistakes they were making as a team in the first nine games as one of the keys to Memphis' late-season turnaround.
"Everyone was sick and tired of losing and we just said alright enough is enough," Coburn said. "We just put our heads down and worked hard in practice and watched a lot of videos and figured out the mistakes we were making. We just go the ball rolling."
Though the SMU game in 2008, was a memorable one for all six of the Memphis seniors. Several other games stick out in their minds. For Sausaman and Harkins, the game that sticks out is Memphis' win over UAB in 2005 at the Conference USA Tournament in Dallas.
"My freshman year when we went to the conference tournament and beat UAB in the quarterfinal, that is the most important win this program has had that I have been a part of in my four years," Sausaman said.
"The conference tournament my freshman year when we went to the semifinals, I thought we played well as a team in that tournament," said Harkins. "I thought it was a really good showing for us."
For Goulding, a transplant from Arbroath, Scotland, the game that comes to forefront is when No. 5 Clemson paid a visit to the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in 2006. The Tigers would lose the game, 2-0, but the game sticks out as a game Goulding believes Memphis had a shot to win.
"They were one of the top teams in the country at the time and we played really well," Goulding stated. "I thought we deserved to win and it just showed us that this program can be a top program in the United States and playing against Clemson showed us we had the ability to play with the top teams in the country."
Hyland, points to 2006's match-up with the Louisville Cardinals as one of the most memorable matches for him. The Tigers defeated Louisville, 4-3 in overtime.
"It was my second year here and we were getting beat, 3-0, and we came out with twenty minutes to go and scored three goals and we got a goal in overtime," Hyland said.
Lynn will always remember assisting on Andy Metcalf's game-winning goal to upset No. 23 Oral Roberts in the championship game of the 2005 Memphis Diadora Tournament. The win over Oral Roberts would be the last upset over a ranked opponent for Memphis until the upset of No. 15 SMU.
"My freshman year in our second game in the our home tournament against Oral Roberts, who was rated No. 23, I crossed one in and we scored and ended up being the game winner," Lynn said.
The six seniors for the Memphis Tigers come from very different backgrounds. Three of the players are home-grown talents from the United States, while three of the U of M footballers are from abroad. Hyland and Coburn are two players who came to Memphis from Ireland and the Colaiste Ide prep program in Dublin that also produced Memphis head coach Richie Grant and Memphis junior Brian Farrell and sophomore Rory O'Connor. Goulding, was brought to Memphis from Arbroath, Scotland.
It has been an unbelievable experience here coming to Memphis from Ireland," Hyland said. "You wouldn't get it anywhere else, no matter where you went in the world. All in all, I am just happy coach gave me the opportunity to come here and I took it and I'm glad I didn't turn it down."
Goulding shared Hyland's sentiments when asked about how he was treated as a player coming from abroad to play soccer at Memphis
It has been absolutely amazing," Goulding said. "I recommend coming here to any player that is from abroad. I have been treated great. A lot of us take things for granted, but we get treated like kings, all of us student-athletes do. I don't have any complaints."
All six of the seniors on the squad will graduate within the next year and take their pursuits outside of the college realm. All of the Tigers have intents on pursuing professional soccer careers in the spring.
"Certainly when I graduate, if I don't get injured again, I would like to go on trial and certainly play," Goulding said. "I think I will have a look here and keep my options open on possibly playing in Scotland."
Harkins also intends on pursuing a career in soccer, but like the rest of the seniors, is also open to a future off of the soccer field.
"I want to try and go play somewhere. If that doesn't work out, I might go into the banking business or the house building business, or possibly both. I am not really sure, I am just trying to keep my options open."
The group of Tiger seniors has had plenty of success on the field, but they have also found success in the classroom. Harkins, Hyland, Lynn and Sausaman have all had multiple semesters with over a 3.0 GPA. Sausaman, has earned ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District in both 2006 and this season.
"I just try and do all my work, do my homework, read the books and study my notes," Sausaman stated. "I know how important it is to do well in school and I try to put the same effort in the classroom as I do on the soccer field."
Richie Grant has been the teacher for these six individuals in training and in soccer games for the last four or five years.
"I think this group of players has been instrumental in laying a foundation for the program," Grant said. "They have laid a foundation of success for this program. They have often been in the Top-25 and have played against such a competitive schedule. I am really excited about the end of their senior year and really encouraged about what they will go on to do afterwards."
While it is the end of the careers for Memphis' six seniors, it is also the end of a Grant's four-year stint coaching Coburn, Goulding, Harkins, Hyland, Lynn and Sausaman.
"I love senior classes, it is one of the special parts of our jobs," Grant added. "Watching people graduate and develop and improve and move on. This group has been really special, in terms of the numbers and the impact they have left on the program."
The Tiger seniors will wind down their journey as Memphis Tigers in the next few weeks. Though it is the end of their careers at the U of M as soccer players. You can be sure, that their memories and the impression they have left on their peers and fans alike will be as long lasting as the experience has been on their lives.
"We have had some great times on and off of the field, traveling, at practice and at games," Harkins said "I wouldn't trade the experience for anything."
The elder statesman of the bunch had this to say about his five years in Memphis.
"It was just a good experience all-around, but all good things have to come to an end sometime," Coburn said.
Memphis will honor their six seniors following the game against the Marshall Thundering Herd at 7 p.m., at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. All six seniors hope to continue their season as long as they can as they move toward the Conference USA Tournament and possibly beyond. The Tigers will finish the regular season at Kentucky at 7 p.m., on Friday, Nov. 7. The conference tournament will take place from Nov. 12-16 at Westcott Field on the campus of SMU in Dallas.
View the Memphis Senior Photo Gallery linked at the top of the page. The gallery includes over 40 images of the Memphis seniors throughout their four years at the U of M. |
