Sept. 3, 2006
ST PAUL, Minn. - The Missouri defense recorded its school record fourth-consecutive shutout as the Tigers fought to a 1-0 win over Minnesota on Sunday afternoon in St. Paul., Minn. After Janelle Cordia scored the eventual game-winning goal, the Golden Gopher offense came alive but could not manage to tie the game as the stingy Tiger defense held on.
With the shutout, sophomore goalie Mallory Forst now has as many shutouts as career starts. She also posted four saves in the game.
"The game was a hard fought game, it could have gone either way" said Missouri Head Coach Bryan Blitz. "Minnesota is a team to be reckoned with and they're goalkeeper was outstanding today. They're off to s great start and we were lucky enough to score one goal today."
In the 62nd minute, Cordia gathered a Minnesota clear while stationed to the outside the left side of the box. Cordia floated a ball over the Golden Gopher defense that escaped the goalie and just into the top right corner of the net. The goal was her second in as many games and gave Missouri a 1-0 lead.
The Mizzou defense helped stepped up in the game's waning minutes as Minnesota pressed to send the game into overtime. With five minutes remaining in the game, senior Meggie Malm slid in and blocked a Minnesota shot from the top of the box. Three minutes later, the Golden Gophers had a breakaway chance that sophomore goalie Mallory Forst came off her line to challenge. The ball got around Forst but freshman defender Crystal Wagner backtracked to step in and clear the ball.
Forst came up big in the final minute when she again came out to the top of the box to challenge a Minnesota chance and blocked the shot to propel the Tigers to its fourth-consecutive shutout.
The game went back in forth for most of the first half, with neither team gaining a clear advantage. In the 10th minute, freshman Kristin Andrighetto sailed a pass into the box the eluded the Golden Gopher defense but bounced off the post. On the ensuing Tiger corner, a header by freshman Michelle Collins floated just over the crossbar for a Minnesota goal kick.
Minnesota almost got on the scoreboard in the 25th minute when a Golden Gopher got free and headed into the box. Sophomore Lindsay McCoy caught up to the play and cleared the ball away.
The crossbar proved the Tigers nemesis once again, as a shot off the foot of freshman Bree Thornton from the top of the box hit the crossbar after the Minnesota goalie punched the shot away.
Six minutes later, sophomore Ashley Hamblin dribbled around the defense and unleashed a shot that again clanged off the goal post.
After a cleared Minnesota corner, Hamblin recovered the loose ball at half field and raced toward goal. She entered the right corner of the box, took another dribble, and fired a shot into the upper left netting. Minnesota's keeper managed to get a hand on the ball to thwart the scoring opportunity.
Mizzou returns home to Walton Stadium with games against Northwestern State and Loyola-Chicago on Friday, Sept. 8 and Sunday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. The Tigers then travel to Madison, Wis., for the Wisconsin Invitational the following weekend. In the Invitational, Missouri faces host Wisconsin on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. and Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 10:30 a.m.