Owls Fall in Conference Opener at Memphis

Thursday, September 17

Memphis, TN

7 p.m.

Rice University

2-4-3, 0-1-0

RV Memphis

4-3-1, 1-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Rice	0	0	0
Memphis	1	1	2

9/17/2026 9:58:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Anthony Roberts (ar186@rice.edu)

MEMPHIS – The Rice soccer team dropped the American Conference opener 2-0 at Memphis Thursday night. The Owls fall to 2-4-3 (0-1 American), while Memphis improves to 4-3-1 (1-0 American).

How It Happened
Lauren Pickup and Brianna Bogar rattled off shots in the opening 10 minutes of the match, but the Memphis defense was able to fend off the attack. Just past the 20-minute mark, Memphis struck for the opening goal of the match. Bogar had a chance to even the match, but a Tiger save kept Rice off the board, with the Owls trailing 1-0 at the half.

Sloane Popov had an early opportunity to open the second half, but once again, the Memphis defense held to preserve their one-goal lead. Eileen Albers looked to even the score with 25 minutes to go, but another save kept Rice off the board. Memphis doubled its lead with 10 minutes to go, as the Tigers fended off a final Rice attack for the win.

Scoring Summary
20:44 – MEM – Goal by Abby Forsgren, assisted by Ellis Kelly
80:32 – MEM – Goal by Ai Kitagawa, assisted by Taliah Brooks and Yuna Nagata

Quick Hits
Memphis outshot Rice 18-11 and 6-5 in shots on goal.
The Owls had an 8-4 corner kick advantage.

Up Next
The Owls return to Holloway Field next Thursday to face Temple.