Pair of Newcomers Lead Tigers to Victory over Bears

Thursday, August 28

Memphis, Tenn.

5:00 p.m.

University of Memphis

1-1-1, 0-0-0

Mercer

1-1-1, 0-0-0

Mercer

Memphis

Pair of Newcomers Lead Tigers to Victory over Bears

Aug 28, 2025 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis (1-1-1) men's soccer secured its first victory of the 2025 season with a 2-0 result against the Mercer Bears (1-1-1) on Senior Night.

Memphis took a lead late in the first half off the foot of Eben McIntyre before Saad Chaouki added a second goal to put the match out of reach.

KEY MOMENTS

34' – In the latter stages of a physical first half, Eben McIntyre brought a cross down in the box from Adam Aboohamidi and held off a defender before finding the back of the net for the first goal of the contest.
56' – After a quick restart, Anthony Grudko and Denis O. John produced back-to-back chances, resulting one save by the Mercer goalkeeper, continuing Memphis' momentum in the match
74' – A Memphis attack led to a beautiful team goal scored by Saad Chaouki, with assists credited to Eben McIntyre and Luciano Galizzi.
87' – Mercer had a late chance to break the shutout, but a shot by Junior Casillas went off-target.

NOTABLES

The victory marks the first time that head coach Richard Mulrooney has defeated Mercer, previously losing his first two matchups against the Bears.
- The all-time series is now 4-2 in favor of Memphis.
The Tigers controlled the offensive side of the contest, outpacing Mercer in total shots (10-to-5).
- Shots-on-goal were heavily in Memphis' favor, as the Tigers recorded six compared to Mercer's one.
A pair of freshmen, Ignacio Escamilla and Miller Lashlee, made their first collegiate starts in the win.
The goals by Saad Chaouki and Eben McIntyre were each their first in a Memphis uniform.
Four Tigers (Filip Sabatti, Michael Holliday, Ryan Ruguaru, Saad Chaouki) logged 90 minutes in the match.
Memphis drastically lowered its total fouls, only committing nine in the match.
- It was the first time that Memphis committed under 10 fouls in a match this season.
A total of five cards were issued in the match, four yellow and one red.
- Abdallah Traore and Anthony Grudko were issued yellow cards.
- Eli Bannister was issued a yellow card and Mercer head coach Brad Ruzzo was issued a yellow and red card for dissent.

UP NEXT
Memphis travels north this weekend to face the Evansville Aces on Aug. 31 at 6:00 p.m. in Evansville, Ind. Memphis' opponent, Mercer, played Evansville to a 1-1 draw in their last match.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For complete information on Memphis Tigers Soccer, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.