April 3, 2002

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The U of M Tiger soccer team will host the second annual Tim McCage Seven-A-Side Tournament on Saturday, April 6th at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to charity, as both the team entry and referee's fees will be donated to two seperate funds. The first being the Soccer United Relief Fund in honor of the September 11th tragedies and also to the John Talley Pediatric Neurological Research Fund, honoring the former general manager of the MRSC and father of current Tiger goalkeeper Clark Talley. Trophies and tournament t-shirts will also be provided at no cost and admission to the all-day event is free.

The tournament, held in honor of the recently deceased former Tiger, will be a one-day event beginning at 10 a.m. and finishing around 7 p.m. The 20-team field is comprised mostly of both current and alumni squads from Memphis, CBU, 2001 tournament champion Lambuth University and Rhodes College, but also features teams from the University of Central Arkansas, Lipscomb University, Huntington College (Ala.), recent NAIA Final Four participant William Carey College (Miss.) and the newly founded Memphis Express of the PDL. The Express will send two squads, one of which, boast's two recent U of M all-conference performers in Stephen Lewis (Houston HS) and Justin Stralka (CBHS), while a separate U of M alumni team roster is set to include a plethora of recent Tiger talent in Brian Covey (Houston HS), Nick Glaser, Ryan Schwaigert (Germantown HS), Michael Shipman (Houston HS) and 2001 tournament MVP Tommy White (Germantown HS). Sean Fraser, who left Memphis as the program's all-time leader in points with 109 and fellow striker Lars Thorstensen, who as a pair, combined to lead the Tigers' in scoring with 28 goals last season, will also join the team.

In other news

The Memphis Tiger soccer team will also be conducting their annual fund-raising banquet on Wednesday, April 10th in the Tiger Club Room within the Pyramid Arena at 7 p.m.. The event will include a silent auction and also a guest speaker in Cliff McGrath. Among the items to be auctioned off are two signed jerseys from Sunderland AFC of the English Premiership. One jersey features the signature of current U.S. National team captain and Sunderland midfielder Claudio Reyna while another contains signatures from four of Reyna's fellow Sunderland teammates. Banquet-only reservations are priced at $100 dollars while individual alumni and student reservations are available for $50 dollars each. Sponsor tables for six can be obtained for $500 dollars. Tickets and additional information are available through the U of M soccer office, or be calling (901) 678-2452.