Sept. 14, 2006
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri soccer team travels to Madison, Wis., this weekend for the Wisconsin Soccer Classic in hopes of continuing its strong start. Off to the best start in program history, Missouri (6-0-0) faces host Wisconsin at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15 and square off against UW-Milwaukee at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17.
Wisconsin Soccer Classic
McClimon Soccer Complex
Madison, Wis.
Friday, Sept. 15
4:30 p.m.: Kentucky vs. UW-Milwaukee
7 p.m.: Missouri vs. Wisconsin
Sunday, Sept. 17
10:30 a.m.: Missouri vs. UW-Milwaukee
1 p.m.: Kentucky vs. Wisconsin
Live stats will be available at: http://www.uwbadgers.com/live/wscr/index.htm
Tigers in the rankings
Two more wins last weekend brought the Tigers' record to a perfect 6-0 and helped the squad move up in the national rankings. Highlighting the polls is a top-10 ranking by Soccer America. The publication has the Tigers in at No. 10 while Mizzou is ranked No. 11 by SoccerTimes.com, No. 12 by SoccerBuzz and No. 16 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Tigers improved in all four polls this week, with the biggest jump coming from SoccerTimes.com, which had Mizzou at No. 15 last week.
In addition to the national rankings, SoccerBuzz lists Missouri third in the Central Region and the NSCAA has the Tigers in fourth.
Last time out
The Tigers extended their consecutive shutout record to five games with a 3-0 win against Northwestern State on Friday. Sophomore Janelle Cordia started things right away with a goal 44 seconds in to the match. After a number of missed opportunites, Mizzou scored its final two goals in a span of a minute with tallies from redshirt-freshman Meghan Pfeiffer and sophomore Ashley Hamblin.
The Tigers set a new single-game record with 41 shots in the game and ceded only two shots to the Lady Demons.
Mizzou also struck early in the team's 3-2 victory over Loyola-Chicago on Sunday as Pfeiffer scored in the fourth minute. After Loyola tied the game one minute later, freshman Bree Thornton scored her fourth goal of the season in the 14th minute. Freshman Kristin Andrighetto tallied Mizzou's game-winner in the 33rd minute to close out scoring for the Tigers. Sophomore Ashley Hamblin assisted on all three Tiger goals.
Loyola's goal in the fifth minute ended a scoreless streak that spanned over five games and 454:53. During the stretch, Missouri opponents took 48 shots without finding the back of the net. The tally also halted the Tigers' consecutive shutout streak at five games.
Tigers off to record start
With its 3-2 win against Loyola-Chicago on Sunday, Mizzou starts the season 6-0 for the first time in school history. In 2001 the squad began 5-0 with wins over Memphis, North Texas, Indiana State, Iowa and Drury before falling to Duke 3-2.
Shutout streak halted
The Tigers began the 2006 campaign with consecutive shutouts over Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota and Northwestern State before yielding two goals to Loyola-Chicago on Sunday. The five consecutive shutouts set a new Tiger record.
Early scorers
In four of Missouri's six games this season, the Tigers scored within the first four minutes of the match. Additionally, nine of Mizzou's 18 goals have come in the opening 14 minutes of play.
Scouting Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Badgers are 2-1-2 so far this season with a 3-2 win against Creighton and a 1-0 shutout over UC Santa Barbara. The Badgers picked up ties against Nebraska (2-2) and Pepperdine (1-1) and fell to California 1-0.
Taylor Walsh leads the squad with eight points on three goals and two assists while Krista Liskevych has two goals. Goalkeeper Stefani Szszechowski has a 0.96 goals against average thus far with a .722 save precentage.
Series Record: Wisconsin leads 1-0
Last Meeting: UW 2, MU 1 (2004)
Scouting UW-Milwaukee
UW-Milwaukee holds a 5-2 record with wins against Sacret Heart, Bowling Green, Washington, Rhode Island and Marquette. The Panthers fell to then No. 8 Portland 3-2 and Indiana 2-0. Louise Vraney leads the Panthers with four goals while Beth Steur (two goals), Kate Megna (one goal, two assists) and Amanda Winn (four assists) all have four points. Keeper Erica Kane has played 450 minutes in goal with three shutouts and a 1.00 goals against average.
Series Record: First meeting
Mizzou among nation's finest
Missouri is ranked among the nation's best programs in a number of statistical categories. The squad is tied for first in win-loss-tie percentage (1.000), tied for 11th in scoring offense (3.0) and shutout percentage (.833) and tied for 24th in goals against average (.33).
Hamblin ranked among elite
Sophomore Ashley Hamblin also finds herself nationally ranked in two statistical categories. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native is tied for 13th in assists per game (.83) and tied for 16th in points per game (2.5).
Mizzou leads the way
As a team, the Tigers lead the Big 12 in a number of statistical categories, including: shots (132), points (54), goals (18), goals per game (3.0), assists (18), assists per game (3.0), goals allowed (two), goals against average (.33) and shutouts (five).
Tigers in the Big 12
After three weekends of play, a number of Tigers are among the league's statistical leaders. Ashley Hamblin is first in points (15), tied for first in points per game (2.5), assists (five) and assists per game (.83), second in goals (five), tied for second in goals per game (1.0) and tied for fifth in game-winning goals (one). Freshman Bree Thornton is tied for fourth in points (10) and goals (four), tied for seventh in assists (two), eighth in goals per game (.67) and tied for eighth in points per game (1.67). Senior Elyse Nikonchuk is third in shots (23) and shots per game (3.83), tied for fifth in game-winning goals (one) and tied for seventh in assists (two). Sophomore Janelle Cordia is tied for first in game-winning goals (two), tied for seventh in goals (three) and tied for ninth in points (seven) and goals per game (.50). Freshman Michelle Collins is tied for fifth in assists per game (.50) and tied for seventh in assists (two) while freshman Bianca Pritchett is tied for seventh in assists (two).
In goalkeeping statistics, sophomore Mallory Forst leads the league in goals against average (.34), save percentage (.895), shutouts (four) and shutouts per game (.67).
National attention
Ashley Hamblin turned a lot of heads around the county after her three goal, two assist opening weekend against Iowa and No. 13 Illinois. For her effort, Hamblin was named the SoccerTimes.com National Player of the Week and earned spots on the Soccer Buzz Elite and Soccer American National teams of the week. Additionally, the Big 12 chose her as its Offensive Player of the Week.
Not to be outdone, freshman Crystal Wagner was named to the SoccerBuzz Elite Team of the Week last week for her help in Mizzou's shutout victories over Northwestern (4-0) and Minnesota (1-0). Wagner was a part of the Tiger defense that tied and eventually broke the team record for consecutive shutouts (five).
Shortchanged Tigers?
After a 9-8-3 season in 2005, the Tigers were selected to finish eighth in the Big 12 this season. Six games into the non-conference schedule, Mizzou is the only conference squad with a perfect 1.000 winning percentage. Hopefully the Tigers can keep up their torrid pace once league play starts, as conference standings are what counts in qualifiying for the Big 12 Tournament
Offensive Explosion
The seven goals Missouri scored against Iowa and Illinois was the most goals the program has scored in the season's opening weekend since 1999. That season, the Tigers also scored seven goals against Duke (2-1 loss) and Colorado (6-2 win). The most goals Mizzou has scored in its first two games is nine, which it accomplished in 1998 after a 4-2 loss to Northwestern and a 7-0 win over Loyola. 1999 and 1998 also represent to most prolific scoring years in program history. The record for goals in a season is 61 set in 1999, followed closely behind with 58 in 1998.
Tigers in the WPSL
Seven current and one former Tiger played in the Women's Premier Soccer League, the second best women's soccer league in the world. Janelle Cordia, Ashley Hamblin, Meghan Pfeiffer, Mo Redmond, Kat Tarr and former Tiger Jennifer Nobis helped the River Cities FC (St. Louis) to a league runner-up finish in the club's first year of existence. Nobis led the squad with 12 goals on the year and was named to the All-Final Four Team after recording a goal and an assist in the league semifinal. Aria Hudetz and Maddie Senkosky played for the WPSL's Denver Diamonds, which advanced to the league playoffs.
Mark your calendars
The Missouri soccer team will hold its annual banquet on December 9, 2006. Festivities will start at 6:30 p.m. while the silent auction will begain at 5:45 p.m.