MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis scored a pair of goals in each half to take a 4-1 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in the season opener for both teams Friday night.
    
    Vanessa Arzaluz scored for Southeastern (0-1) which had 16 shots in the match, six on goal. Hope Sabadash made seven saves for the Lady Lions.
    
    Marie Levasseur, Serena Dolan, Valerie Sanderson and Alyxandria Stafford got on the board for Memphis (1-0). Sanderson, Olivia Gauthier, Chanel Hudson-Marks and Elizabeth Woerner collected assists while Maryse Bard-Martel had five saves.
    
   "We had a great first 40 minutes of the match," Southeastern head coach Blake Hornbuckle said. "We had numerous opportunities and some near misses. Vanessa scored a fantastic goal off a ball that popped out at the top of the box. Our pressure was absolutely fantastic. I thought their goalkeeper also came up big tonight. There were several balls that bounced around the box they were able to get a foot on or their goalkeeper was able to make a save on. Really the game could have been opened up for both teams to score multiple games."
    
   Southeastern took a 1-0 lead at the 20:58 mark of the first half when Arzaluz connected on a long shot from outside the box after a corner by Maggie Ramsey was cleared.
    
    Memphis tied it at 1 at the 41-minute mark when Levasseur took a through ball from Sanderson at the left post and sent a shot in past Sabadash. The Tigers then went up 2-1 at the 44:20 mark as Dolan punched in a shot from the front of the net after a scramble on a corner by Jessica Lisi.
    
    Both teams had other opportunities in the half. Southeastern's first shot of the season, by Payton Colson, was saved by Bard-Martel at the 3:53 mark of the first half. Bard-Martel also saved a shot by Linda Karlsson and the Lady Lions had four other shots blocked.

    Memphis had its first opportunity at 13:38 as Sanderson missed high. Levasseur then hit the post before Lisi sent a header wide at 19:22. The Tigers also had a shot blocked.

    Memphis quickly made it 3-1 to start the second half as Sanderson scored off a cross from the right side from Hudson-Marks at the 47:04 mark. Gauthier also had an assist on the play.

    The lead grew to 4-1 at the 70:20 mark as Stafford finished off a cross from the left side by Woerner.

    Sabadash made all seven of her shots in the second half while the Lady Lions defense blocked three shots. Bard-Martel saved three shots while Southeastern had a pair of shots blocked by the Tiger defense.

    "It was a fantastic game for us to learn from," Hornbuckle said. "We got so much out of tonight even though we opened the season with a loss. We look forward to our next match. We had a lot of great things to build on. Maddie Kresevic and Maggie Ramsey both had tremendous games tonight. Linda Karlsson had a very good first game in the midfield, settling the game down and connecting on passes. Payton Colson played extremely well on the flank and up high, putting pressure on them. And Katie Noonan Elizabeth McMurray did extremely well in the back and Sofia Olsson had a really good first half creating opportunities."

    The Lady Lions will stop off in Jackson, Miss. on their way home to play Jackson State on Sunday at 1 p.m.