March 13, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Despite dominating all facets of the game, the Missouri women's soccer team opened its spring schedule with a tough 3-1 loss to the U16 Boys Club Team 3-1 on a frigid Monday night at Walton Stadium. The Tigers outshot the club team 26-7 but could not muster more than one goal on the night.
Mizzou, which played with a depleted roster due to injuries, gave up two early goals to the Boys team but played the final 70 minutes even. The Tigers maintained possession of the ball for the majority of the game and had numerous scoring chances around the goal but could not finish.
"I'm proud of the team, I thought we played very well," said Missouri head coach Bryan Blitz. "We have new players in and we're playing a whole different style of ball, so I thought we did a good job tonight. We controlled the game but they managed to score on counter attacks. We were happy to possess the ball so much, it was one of our goals."
The U16 Boys Team tallied the first goal of the game in the fourth minute on a breakaway when an U16 player sped past a Mizzou defender and lofted a shot over goalie Mallory Forst and into the upper netting. The Boys went up 2-0 in the ninth minute when the squad got behind the Missouri defense, entered the box, and blasted a shot past Forst's outstretched fingers.
The Tigers took control of the game facing a 2-0 deficit and almost got on the board in the 19th minute with two great scoring chances. After the U16 goalie saved a Meghan Pfeiffer shot, Mo Redmond corralled the rebound and fired a 15-yard blast that hit the crossbar. Despite outshooting the U16 Team 10-4, Mizzou ended the first half down 2-0.
Missouri's offense came to life in the second half with six shots in the first ten minutes of play. The Tigers finally got on the board in the 59th minute when Ashley Hamblin dribbled into the box and found Hudetz in front of the goal, who easily put the ball past the U16 keeper.
The U16 Team countered nine minutes later on a breakaway to increase its lead to 3-1 but the Tigers continued to attack and outshot the Boys Team 9-0 in the final 16 minutes of the game. Hamblin drilled three of those nine shots and narrowly missed a goal after collecting a loose ball at midfield and breaking toward the goal. Hamblin looked to have a clear path to the goal put a U16 defender stepped in at the last minute to block Hamblin's shot and preserve the 3-1 margin.
Forst made three saves in goal for the Tigers.
Missouri continues its spring schedule with a contest against Conference USA foe Memphis on Sunday, March 19 at 10 a.m. at Walton Stadium.