April 18, 2005
Columbia, Mo.--Exacting revenge from a loss last fall, the Mizzou Tigers improved their spring record to 3-0 defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 2-1. The Tigers used a high-octane first-half performance and gutsy second-half defense to knock off its second 2004 NCAA Elite Eight participant in seven days.
The Tigers attacked early and often in the first half, with junior forward Jennifer Nobis having a handful of 1 v 1 chances. Junior forward Amber Swinehart and sophomore defender Lauren Grice both played Nobis into the box past the Illinois defense, forcing several big saves from Illini goalkeeper Lindsey Carstens.
Mizzou broke the deadlock scoring the game's first goal in the 13th minute, with a long-distance strike from sophomore Elyse Nikonchuk. After turning at midfield, Nikonchuk found space, took two touches and cracked a shot from 40 yards out into the upper right corner of the net, past the outstretched hands of Carstens.
The Tigers then doubled their lead in the 37th minute, when a ball by freshman midfielder Casey Dreyfus played Nobis into the right side of the 18-yard box. The junior cut the ball back on the end line past her defender before sliding a cross over to sophomore Aria Hudetz, who scored to boost Mizzou to 2-0 at the half.
"The whole team put in another fantastic effort today and it was great to get another good measure of where we are this spring and how much we have improved by playing against a tough opponent like Illinois," Coach Bryan Blitz said. "This Illini team put it on us in the fall, so it was awesome to come out today with three or four players that didn't even play against them last season and see our group put in another solid performance."
The Illini, who returned 20 players from the team that defeated the Tigers 4-1 in the fall, made adjustments at half in order to pressure Mizzou more effectively in the second period. Unable to break the Tigers, Illinois eventually switched to a 3-4-3 formation for the final ten minutes in an attempt to erode the Tiger defense.
After several quality chances, Illinois' pursuits paid off in the 85th minute, as Illini forward Jessica Bayne capitalized on a miscommunication between Grice and freshman goalkeeper Laura Buehrig. Tapping the ball around Buehrig, Bayne was able to score on an open net and bridge the score 2-1.
The miscue, created the only goal for the Illini however, as the Tiger's held on for the victory. Buehrig continued her excellent play this spring, making several great saves, including a diving, full-extension save with ten minutes remaining.
"We came out strong in the first half jumping on them early finishing two good chances and honestly we could have had more but in the end it was enough. Illinois made some changes at half time and that kept us under pressure for a good portion of the second half, but our team stuck together and worked hard for each other to get another great result this spring." Blitz said.
The Tigers hope to wrap up their spring season this weekend undefeated when they face the Southwest Missouri State Bears April 23 at 12:00 p.m. The team finishes with their annual game against the Mizzou Alumni at 11:00 a.m., Sunday April 24. Both games will be played at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.