After five weeks of preseason camp, Memphis 901 FC coach Tim Mulqueen had a simple message to deliver Saturday night.

Thank goodness it’s over.

Mulqueen’s new-look team wrapped up preparations for its second trip around the United Soccer League Championship Saturday night with a 1-0 victory over the University of Memphis at AutoZone Park. Newcomer Matt Hundley, who joined the club about 10 days ago on loan from Colorado Rapids of MLS, scored in the 71st minute.

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“It’s just that; it’s done,” said Mulqueen after watching his team conclude preseason camp with its second victory.

“From this second on, it’s 34 games to finish in the top 10 (and qualify for the playoffs). So every decision we make, every training session we have, every moment we have together we’re together. We start (Sunday) with recovery and then we’re in on training Monday and we’ll pick the 18 guys that give us the best chance to win against Indy.”

Memphis will open at home next Saturday against Indy Eleven and regardless of the players Mulqueen puts on the field, it will be a different looking team than the one the visitors will have seen previously. Only nine players were retained from last season and new sporting director Tim Howard and Mulqueen have made a conscious effort to significantly upgrade the talent level.

Of the 11 players who started against the Tigers on Saturday only three, captain Marc Burch and midfielders Dan Metzger and Duane Muckette, were with the team on opening day of 2019.

“I think Tim has done a great job of just making the team better,” said Burch, who started at left back after operating in center defense last year. “The talent, the quality is a lot better than last year.”

Keanu Marsh-Brown, a Guyanese national team member, and the 19-year-old Hundley are both part of that talent influx. And both staked a claim to be in the match day squad against Indy. 

Both players came on in the 62nd minute and linked up for the goal shortly thereafter. Marsh-Brown beat his defender in the box and angled a nice cross to the far post that Hundley scrambled in.

“I just want to make the team better and everyone around me (better),” said Hundley, a former college star at UCLA. “Shoutout to Key for the assist. It was a perfect ball and I just threw my body at it, one of those type of things. When you’re in those spots as a forward, you just want to put the ball in the back of the net.”

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It would have been unlucky had 901 FC not gotten at least one goal. They created several good chances in the first half – only to be denied by some good goalkeeping by the Tigers’ Parker Lackland – and spent huge stretches of the second half camped out in the Tigers’ end.

Mulqueen said the finishing will come. As long as his team can continue to create the chances, it should be fine.

“You look at possession and it was probably 80-20,” he said. “Shots were well-tilted in our favor. Credit to Memphis, they’re a very good side and Richard (Mulrooney) is a great coach. I was real pleased with how they played but I was very pleased with our team.

“We kept a clean sheet. We created a multitude of compelling chances and if we keep creating those kinds of chances we’re going to be in really good positions this year. But I’m pleased with how the team competed and how they finished a tough five weeks with that performance.”