MU women's soccer scores a win against Butler

After winning against Butler, the Tigers look forward to conference games.

By Greg Young

Published Sept. 16, 2008

With seven minutes remaining in the game, the MU women's soccer team had doubled Butler's shooting total. They dominated possession and created several scoring opportunities.

But they were still tied 1-1, and in danger of tying a .500 Butler squad that has never qualified for the NCAA tournament.

With six minutes left in the game, MU finally struck for the decisive goal, when junior forward Kristin Andrighetto passed to senior midfielder Mo Redmond in the middle of the box, and Redmond slammed it to the left of the Butler keeper for the final strike to give Missouri its third consecutive win.

"Butler made us earn the win," coach Brian Blitz said. "Our hats are off to them this game. We really grinded through the game, and it took a lot of determination."

Throughout the game, Missouri was fairly dominant, outshooting Butler 25-5 and having a 14-2 edge on shots on goal. However, the Butler goalie, Laura Baker, had a solid game with 12 saves.

"We created a lot of chances," Blitz said. "Our goal is to work on converting those chances."

The game could have potentially been a trap game for the Tigers, who were coming off of a strong showing against Vanderbilt last Friday.

"I think our team has had a very good weekend," Blitz said.

In the first half, Missouri struck first with a deflection by senior defender Lindsay McCoy off of a corner kick with just two minutes remaining in the half. The goal was McCoy's first at MU. The goal was also Missouri's first goal in the first half this season.

"I'm not even sure how it really happened," McCoy said. "It was really exciting. You don't get nearly as many chances to score while on defense."

But Butler responded quickly, scoring only 30 seconds after Missouri's goal when freshmen defender Mandi Kotynski scored off of a ball that was misjudged by junior goalie Tasha Dittamore.

"I came out to a ball I thought I could get to, but I just couldn't get there," Dittamore said.

Despite misplaying the ball against Butler, Dittamore had an exciting week. Last Saturday, she found out that she won the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. In her last three games, Dittamore has averaged 4.6 saves.

"It is a huge honor," Dittamore said. "My mom called me about it, and that was how I first found out. It was a huge surprise, I definitely was not expecting it."

The Missouri defense was solid again Sunday and has allowed only one goal in their last three games, all wins.

"We have been working on our positions a lot," Dittamore said. "We have really learned how to communicate well on defense."

The Tigers are going to have to keep improving as they head into the meat of their schedule, which includes a game at home against Iowa on Friday and trips to Iowa State and Nebraska to kick off the Big 12 schedule. All of the teams in the next three games have records of .500 or better.