Sept. 5, 2001
By BEN McCLANAHAN Special to the Tribune
Story ran on Saturday, September 01 2001
New lights. A record crowd of 1,926 at Walton Stadium. The only thing missing for the Missouri women's soccer team's season opener was a flashy midfielder who can score at will. Adrienne Davis, Missy Peabody (16) and Steph Brennan (20) swarm Suzy Probst (hidden) after her first goal of the game. Mark Schiefelbein photo
Not quite. Former MU player Nikki Thole may no longer be filling that role, but junior Suzy Probst's two goals in a 3-2 win over Memphis left reason to believe that MU's offense won't struggle without the former all-American.
"Maybe she's the magic weapon," MU coach Bryan Blitz said of Probst. "Her performance was unbelievable. She got tired in the second half but overall she played really well."
Probst's first goal came in the 20th minute when sophomore Adriene Davis turned away from two defenders and scooted the ball to Probst, who drilled the shot into the high left corner of the goal. Davis, who did not start, helped ignite MU's offense with two assists. Her second came in the 47th minute when Davis connected with sophomore Melissa McLellan, who extended MU's lead to 3-1.
Although Memphis was outmatched on offense, the Tigers tied the game at 1-1 when midfielder Anja Nielsen scored off a Rebecca Amrozowicz assist in the 24th minute. But Probst answered again in the 33rd minute with an unassisted goal off a deflection from a corner kick. So does Probst believe she's the new "magic weapon?"
"I wouldn't mind," said Probst, who doubled her career goal total to four. "I definitely want to be someone who scores."
MU's other magic weapon was its home crowd, which easily broke the attendance record of 1,105. That, along with fancy new lights, gave the Tigers an atmosphere they've never experienced in the past.
"I wish I had a word to explain how it feels," senior defender Dyana Russell said. "You look out and you're like, 'Oh my God, they're here for us.' It's about time, we deserve this."
Down 3-1 Memphis found new life in the 88th minute when Allison Baker bounced her shot down off the top crossbar and into the Tigers' goal. MU, after a late scare, was able to deter any last-minute heroics.
"I think it was a rude awakening for us at the end knowing that we cannot give up in the last five minutes," Russell said. "We need to work on the last few minutes of the game, and that's what we just got lectured on."
The Tigers' defense was without senior leading Mandy Waters, who is serving a three-game suspension for playing on a summer tour with the Tigers during a redshirt year in 1999.
Waters will be eligible to play next Friday. MU will host North Texas tomorrow at 1.
"They grinded it out," Blitz said. "Our team needs to play to the end. We should have finished two of our chances in the second half. That shows our youth."
MU's youth did show, but Davis remembers her freshman year and knows the newcomers will get used playing at the Division I level.
"We have a lot of freshmen still," Davis said. "I was there once and it takes a lot to get used to playing with them, but I thought we did awesome for our first game. We just have to learn to play the whole 90 minutes."