Soccer weekend preview

Posted to Sports Blog by Alex Ruppenthal at 12:02 p.m., Sept. 5, 2008

Missouri's soccer team is in Berkeley, Calif., this weekend for games against No. 21 California and Eastern Washington. MU will play Cal Saturday and Eastern Washington Sunday, marking the first time in program history the Tigers have played back-to-back days during the regular season. Missouri normally plays on Fridays and Saturdays, but a schedule change created the rare Saturday-Sunday slate.

Junior Meghan Pfeiffer admitted that playing on Sunday after playing Friday can be tough for Missouri, which features a high-energy press.

This weekend, MU will play two games less than 24 hours apart. Eastern Washington, Missouri’s Sunday opponent, will have a day off after playing Cal State Bakersfield Friday. MU comes into the weekend ranked No. 22 by TopDrawerSoccer.com and also received votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas poll.

After shutting out Auburn last Friday, junior goalkeeper Tasha Dittamore was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. Dittamore leads the conference in saves per game (5.5). Saturday’s matchup with Cal will no doubt be Missouri’s tougher contest.

The Golden Bears are 2-1-0, their only loss a 3-2 overtime defeat to No. 24 Cal State Fullerton. Sophomore forwards Lisa Kevorkian and Alex Morgan have combined for seven goals, and Cal has 38 shots on goal in three games. Morgan led Cal in goals and assists last season and helped the U.S. Women's Under-20 National Team win the silver medal this summer in the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship.

The Cal defense has allowed just eight shots on goal, but when opponents get off a shot, it has a good chance of finding the net. Junior goalkeeper Gina Pellegrini has allowed as many goals (4) as she has saves. Eastern Washington is 0-2-1 and has scored just one goal all year. Last year, the Eagles finished 9-8-0, the most successful season in their program’s history.