Bonnick’s two goals lead Missouri Soccer past Oklahoma

The senior is leading the team with seven goals on the season.

By Pat Iversen

Published Oct. 5, 2010

Oklahoma gave the Missouri soccer team all they could handle this past weekend, as the squad rebounded from a tough defeat to No. 8 ranked Oklahoma State on Friday to finish off Oklahoma two days later by a 2-1 score.   “I think they did a good job and played all the way to the end,” coach Bryan Blitz said after Sunday’s match. “We talked before the game about how we need to show how big our heart is, because we didn’t really show up on Friday. We wanted to recover and really show how big our heart was today and I think we did that.”   After giving up a goal right before halftime, Missouri struggled to regain momentum for most of the second half. They finally broke through in the 85th minute, when freshman Alex Charlebois found senior Alysha Bonnick in the offensive zone.   “I guess the defense left a hole there, so I showed my hand and (she) slipped it through and I started dribbling,” Bonnick said. “I remembered in the back of my head how coach always tells me, ‘Push it past the defender and use your speed.’ So I did, and shot it past the goalie.”   Merely 72 seconds later, Bonnick scored again off a corner kick from Danielle Nottingham, putting the Tigers up 2-1 for good. Bonnick now has a team-leading seven goals on the season, and her 37 career goals make her the third-best goal scorer in program history. Blitz had high praise for the captain after the game.   “She’s a true finisher,” Blitz said. “Both (goals) were inside the box and she created them. That’s just her ability and talent. We need her to do well; she’s a leader up front.”   Oklahoma presented a unique challenge for the Tigers. The Sooners employed an “offsides trap” defensive strategy, designed to “trap” the opposing offense offsides most of the game. Charlebois said it was hard to establish an offensive presence.   “The offside trap was pretty difficult, but other than that they were just really aggressive, and it was tough to beat that,” Charlebois said. “It just makes you want to be just that much more aggressive yourself, and gives you incentive to play harder than them.”   The difference between the two weekend games was difficult to miss, and Blitz said the ball control issues and defensive communication appeared to be improved.   “On Friday, we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be defensively, and I think they took that challenge (to improve) against a very dangerous Oklahoma team,” Blitz said. “They have an attack that we’re going to be seeing now for the rest of the season, and our defense played outstanding.”

Despite the disappointing outcome against Oklahoma State, Blitz said the way his team finished Sunday silenced any questions about Missouri’s mental toughness.   “You know, you give up a goal before the end of the half and that’s always a little bit scary, but I think we reacted the right way,” Blitz said. “It’s that mental thing of ‘Do we still have the will to compete?’ And we did today."