Texas defeats Missouri with last minute pushes

The game featured a physical Missouri defense.

By Sean Leahy

Published Oct. 27, 2008

After 76 minutes of Sunday's match between No. 16 Missouri and No. 10 Texas, the Tigers, holding a 1-0 advantage, seemed poised to win their fourth game in a row and get closer to conference championship contention.

But, on a windy day at Walton Stadium, two quick goals by the Longhorns blew Missouri's victory away into a 2-1 defeat.     

"Hats off to Texas," coach Bryan Blitz said, whose team fell to 12-5-0 (6-3 in the Big 12). "They found a way to win. They fought hard. That's athletics. Sometimes it goes your way and other times it doesn't."

The two Longhorn goals, coming just over seven minutes of each other, made for an active ending in a game featuring a physical Missouri defense and no scoring until 10 minutes into the second half.

"We like to come out and impose our will upon teams and get them on their heels," senior defender Janelle Cordia said.

Initially Missouri had trouble keeping the ball out of their own zone and getting shots on the Texas goal.

But, as time went on, the Tigers slowly gained traction over the Longhorn defense while getting more scoring opportunities.

"This game was basically a four quarter game," Blitz said. "In the first quarter, Texas did a good job dictating. In the second quarter we came back and were strong."

During the time that Missouri was shutting out Texas, the Tigers held an 8-3 advantage in fouls, indicating how physical their defensive attack was.

"Once we got our game going, we kept it going and didn't let them play much of their game," junior midfielder Kristin Andrighetto said.

On the other side of the ball, though, the Tigers couldn't push a goal across. The two teams ended up tied with seven shots each at the end of the half.

The scoreless tie was broken at the 56th minute mark by Andrighetto, who amid heavy traffic in front of the net, punched in a goal.

"That was a scramble in there," Andrighetto said. "It was scrappy goal but we take what we can get."

It was Andrighetto's seventh goal of the season while sophomore forward Alysha Bonnick picked up the assist.

Missouri held that 1-0 advantage deep into the second half until Texas senior defender Kasey Moore floated a shot past the Tigers' lunging junior goalkeeper Tasha Dittamore, to tie it up at 1-1.

A few minutes later, Longhorn freshman midfielder Lucy Keith added the game-winner and completed the comeback.

Although Missouri outshot Texas 13-8 in the second half, the Tigers came up on the losing end.

"They were just a little bit more efficient with their chances," Blitz said of Texas.