Tigers win conference opener

The Tigers won on senior forward Michelle Collins' second-half goal.

By Vinnie Duber

Published Sept. 29, 2009

The Tigers women's soccer team knocked off the Oklahoma State Cowgirls 3-2 Sunday to earn a victory in their first conference game of the season.

Missouri is now 6-4-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the Big 12 this season.

With the game tied 2-2 midway through the second half, a corner kick by senior forward Kristin Andrighetto bounced off the body of Oklahoma State freshman goalkeeper Adrianna Franch and ricocheted to Missouri senior forward Michelle Collins, who kicked the ball past Franch for the game-winning goal.

The win was the Tigers' first Sunday home victory of the season, and it also marked the first time they have defeated Oklahoma State since 2005.

"To come out the first game of Big 12 on a Sunday and have that performance and beat a team like that is huge for us," senior goalkeeper Tasha Dittamore said.

Fans were treated to an exciting game, as senior midfielder Bree Thornton scored two goals within two minutes of each other in the first half to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.

In the second half, the Cowgirls battled back, scoring two goals of their own. Collins' goal with just more than 14 minutes remaining in the game broke the tie and gave the Tigers the win.

"I liked the way our team came back and found a way to get the winning goal at the end," coach Bryan Blitz said. "I think that really showed the work they did throughout the week."

Dittamore was the game's hero, as she made numerous athletic saves and took a couple of hard kicks to the body to preserve the Missouri win.

Her biggest save of the game came with just less than nine minutes remaining in the game. With a 3-2 lead, Dittamore made a sliding save, but a late whistle on a slide tackle in the box gave Oklahoma State a penalty kick. Penalty kicks usually favor the offense, but Dittamore made the stop, all but sealing the Missouri win. "We wanted this team," Dittamore said. "We wanted them bad. When they came back, I think everyone just got it in their mind that there is absolutely no way we're going to let them take it from us again." The win was an important one for the Tigers. Picked to win the Big 12 conference at the beginning of the season, Missouri had not looked like a conference championship contender so far in 2009. The win over conference rival Oklahoma State changed that. Missouri asserted itself as a physical team Sunday. It was charged with 27 fouls and received three yellow cards. Andrighetto, senior midfielder Meghan Pfeiffer, and sophomore midfielder Jessie Crabtree were issued with the yellow cards. "I think that's the kind of soccer we play," Thornton said. "And that's what we want to bring to every game. Teams don't want to play us for that reason. I think we always want to try and go in hard, and make people a little bit intimidated." The Tigers attacked throughout the game, as they have in most of their games this season. Entering Sunday, Oklahoma State had only allowed four goals in their first 10 games of the year. The Tigers almost matched that in 90 minutes. Missouri has a challenge next weekend, when they will travel to Texas and Texas A&M. The Tigers' game against the Aggies will be broadcast on ESPNU.