Weekly soccer update

Posted to Sports Blog by Alex Ruppenthal at 1:36 a.m., Oct. 15, 2008

Weekend Recap

Missouri's soccer team split a pair of games in Oklahoma last weekend, beating Oklahoma 2-0 on Friday and falling to Oklahoma State 3-2 in overtime on Sunday. The Tigers are 9-4-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the Big 12.

Friday's shutout was MU's seventh of the year, but junior goalkeeper Tasha Dittamore didn't get credit for the shutout because she was injured in the final ten seconds and had to be replaced by senior Mallory Forst. After Dittamore grabbed the ball out of the air, Oklahoma's Whitney Palmer, who was going for the ball, jumped and collided with Dittamore. Dittamore fell to the ground and stayed there for several minutes before walking off the field, and she iced the back of her head after the game. Dittamore, a two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week this season, returned Sunday and played the entire game against Oklahoma State.

Sophomore forward Alysha Bonnick scored the Tigers' first goal in both games. Bonnick and junior forward Kristin Andrighetto, who scored Sunday, are tied for the team lead with six goals.

 Free Fouling

MU committed 19 fouls in both games last weekend, giving the Tigers a Big 12-leading 102 fouls in conference play. No other team has more than 82 fouls, and seven teams have committed 65 or fewer.

No doubt the Tigers are gaining a reputation as bruisers. After MU's first win of the season against Auburn, junior midfielder Meghan Pfeiffer made it clear Missouri would be a physical team that doesn't back down from anyone.

 "If they want to muscle up against us, then that's fine," Pfeiffer said. "We'll deal with it."

 The Tigers have dealt with it, alright. They're averaging more than 13 fouls a game, and they've been carded 15 times, both tops in the Big 12.

Friday tune-up, Sunday challenge

Division II Francis Marion comes to Columbia on Friday. The Patriots, from Florence, S.C., are 2-10-1 this season and shouldn't give the Tigers much trouble.

For the only time this season, the Tigers will play Friday in Columbia and then play Sunday on the road. Missouri heads to College Station, Texas, on Sunday to try to upset No. 6 Texas A&M, a game that will be televised on ESPNU. MU sent the Big 12 a message last season when it opened conference play with a 3-2, double-overtime win against the then-No. 4 Aggies. Texas A&M's average home attendance is 3,637, which more than doubles any other Big 12 team. You can bet the Aggies and their fans haven't forgotten last year's loss.