Missouri looks to improve scoring efficiency

The Tigers plan to capitalize on their efficiency against KU.

By Greg Young

Published Oct. 27, 2008

In Missouri's 2-1 loss against No. 10 Texas, the Tigers battled the wind and an opportunistic Texas team, who was able to convert on a third of its scoring opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Tigers, who have only one game against KU Friday left in their regular season, was only able to score once despite having 11 shots on goal. MU's only goal came in the 56th minute when junior midfielder Kristin Andrighetto gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Andrighetto also had six shots on goal, which led all players.

Missouri's head coach, Bryan Blitz, believed that the Tigers played well, but needed to capitalize on their scoring opportunities.

"We had some chances to put the game away," Blitz said. "They fought hard and that is athletics, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't."

One of the factors that may have limited Missouri's scoring chances was possession. The Longhorns, who improved to 5-2-2 in the Big 12 with the win, controlled the ball for most of the game, despite being outshot by the Tigers 20-15.

"We have to work on pressing as a team and keeping the ball out of our defensive third," Andrighetto said. "We probably could have put some away, so if they had scored they wouldn't have had the lead. They definitely capitalized on our defensive mistakes."

Andrighetto also said they allowed Texas too many shots, even though they had more shots on goal (11) than Texas (six).

"When you let teams shoot, they are going to score," Andrighetto said. "We just didn't step and they got a really good shot off."

The Longhorns also took advantage of a wide open second half in which there were more goals (3-0) shots (21-14) and corner kicks (10-6) than in the first half.

"In the second half we just allowed them to play a little bit more than we should have," senior defender Kat Tarr said.

Despite not capitalizing on scoring opportunities as well as Texas did, Missouri was still very aggressive and physical against the Longhorns, out-fouling them 10-9. The Tigers believe their physical play will have a positive impact in the NCAA tournament.

"I think the way we play gives us an advantage, especially going into the NCAA tournament," Tarr said. "A lot of the teams are used to the same kind of formations, and when a team plays us, we are on them and it really throws other teams off."

The Tigers also believe they play bigger than their size. Tarr, who is the tallest player on the team at 5-8, believes that their physical play is "more of a mentality."

"We want to impose our will on teams," senior forward Janelle Cordia said.

The Tigers will be looking to capitalize on their scoring opportunities going into their final match of the Big 12 regular season against Kansas on Friday. Despite the loss, MU can finish at 7-3 in the Big 12 if they can defeat KU, who is 5-4-1 in Big 12 play.

"It is always disappointing to lose," Cordia said. "But as long as we take something positive, then it is going to help us later."