Women's soccer ties with Northwestern
For the second time in two games, the Missouri Tigers soccer played their opponent through two overtimes on Sunday. Once again, no winner was decided as the Tigers finished their game at Northwestern with a 1-1 draw. The draw brings Missouri's record to 0-3-2 and signals the end of what was a grueling road trip for the team.
This time the Tigers snagged an early lead behind a great set-up play in the 9th minute. Senior defender Krista Kruse played a through ball to junior forward Kendra Collins on the right flank. Collins immediately crossed a low ball to senior captain Alysha Bonnick who one-timed the ball into the net.
After Northwestern goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards made a great save off a Missouri corner kick in the 48th minute, Northwestern made a successful counterattack eight minutes later. Wildcat goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards fired the ball past midfield, and teammate Caroline Dagley deposited the bouncing ball in the net after the Tigers defenders struggled to clear it.
The game would remain tied through regulation, and the Tigers again were forced to play extra minutes. Missouri nearly finished the game in the 104th minute, when junior midfielder Kendra Collins was stopped twice on a breakaway opportunity. Edwards charged to block the initial shot, and Collins was stopped again when her rebound try was headed clear by a Wildcat defender.
That ended up being Missouri's best opportunity to score in extra time. Tiger goalkeeper Jessica Gwin made two key saves late, and the game ended in a tie after two overtimes. The Tigers ended the road trip winless, but coach Bryan Blitz has to be pleased with the progress his team made. The first three games of the trip at Maryland, Duke and North Carolina were challenges the Tigers had never encountered before. Coach Blitz made it clear that the purpose of the difficult early schedule was not for wins, but for growth.
The trip certainly saw some progress from a few players. Jessica Gwin looked confident in net, as she leads the Big 12 in saves with 34. Freshman Dominique Richardson has been the most offensively active player for Missouri, racking up 16 shots over the trip with one goal. She averaged 3.20 shots per game, the 5th-best in the conference to date. And captain Alysha Bonnick tallied three goals, the most on the team. And while the Tigers have allowed the most shots in the conference so far, they allowed only 15 shots over the weekend against DePaul and Northwestern.
Missouri will spend the next three weeks in Columbia as part of a six-game homestand. The Tigers will try for the elusive first win against Arkansas on Friday evening.