This story was originally published Aug. 14, 2010.

The Western women’s soccer team lost seven seniors from last season’s squad that went 14-4-2, but the Lady Toppers showed no signs of growing pains Friday.

Western played Memphis — a three-time defending Conference USA champion — to a 1-1 stalemate at the WKU Soccer Complex despite being outshot 11-4 by the Lady Tigers.

“It was extremely great to see that were able to come back  from a year were we lost so many awesome players,“ junior goalkeeper Libby Stout said. “This being our first game, we played really well.”

Junior midfielder Kelsey Meyer scored the Lady Toppers’ only goal on a penalty kick in the 27th minute of the first half. Meyer was able to convert after being taken down in the penalty box.

“It was kind of a luck goal with the penalty kick,” Meyer said. “I think it settled us down after getting first goal early.”

Memphis struck quickly in the second half when Christabel Oduro scored the Lady Tigers’ only goal of the game, trying the score in the 46th minute.

“The goal was unforunate,” Stout said. “But after that I knew I couldn’t let another one go.”

Meyer had another scoring opportunity with 23 minutes remaining in the match, but she failed to net a goal. No overtime was played in the exhibition game.

Stout was crucial for Western in the second half, collecting three saves against a Memphis offense that got off six shots in the final period.

“If I hadn’t made saves we would of lost the game” Stout said. “That much pressure is good for me because I play better under pressure.”

Head Coach Jason Neidell was proud of his team’s performance, especially against a Memphis team that’s earning votes in the top 25.

“I think it was a very good starting place for having 20 freshmen and sophomores and having lost seven starters off our team last year,” he said. “I’m really proud of the way we were able to come out and compete with a lot of fresh faces. We were very organized, particularly defensively. I thought we did a really good job tonight.”

The Lady Toppers finish up exhibition action at 12 p.m. Sunday against Butler in Indianapolis.