Aug. 26, 2007

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ST LOUIS - The University of Missouri women's soccer team tied the Saint Louis University Billikens, 1-1, Sunday afternoon at Robert R. Hermann Stadium in St. Louis. Mizzou finishes the exhibition season 1-0-1, and opens the regular season Friday, Aug. 31 against No. 20 Illinois.

"I think we got out of the game what we wanted to," Tiger Head Coach Bryan Blitz said, "Of course we want to win every single game, but we purposefully put ourselves in a hostile environment. We traveled on the road to play a big time game early to see where we're at."

SLU's only goal came just into the second half in the 46th minute, when Susan Frederickson gathered a loose ball well outside of the box, and crossed it into the box from about 20 yards out. The ball hit the left post and bounced into the goal, giving SLU a 1-0 lead. That was the first goal an opponent has scored on the Tigers in the preseason, as the defense and goalkeepers shut out Indiana on Aug. 21 in Columbia.

SLU had a 1-0 lead until late in the game, when sophomore Kristin Andrighetto passed the ball to freshman Alysha Bonnick, who scored from the right side of the box, tying the game at 1-1 in the 87th minute. Bonnick also scored in the Tigers' first preseason game last Tuesday.

"I think what we took out of this, is seeing our growth in character from last year, because last year, if we would have given up a really poor goal, we would have dropped our heads, not fought back," Blitz said. "We're a lot more resilient, we have a lot more fight in us. I think that was the best thing as a coaching staff that we took out of that."

The Tigers had a few scoring chances in the first half, but perhaps their best came from an Andrighetto shot from the left side, about 20 yards out. The shot was right on target, but it sailed a little high and hit the crossbar.

Mizzou finished with 12 shots, and two on goal on the day, while SLU had seven shots, and four on goal.

Tiger keeper Tasha Dittamore started in goal, and made three saves.

The Tigers now have less than a week to prepare for their season opener, Friday, Aug. 31, in Champaign, Ill., when they face off against 20th-ranked Illinois at 7 p.m. Mizzou will open its home schedule Sun. Sept. 2, by hosting Western Michigan at 1 p.m.

Forst at Forward? Because Mizzou junior Mallory Forst did not start in her traditional position of goalkeeper, she was available to play forward. She had two shots in 21 minutes of play.

Injury Note: One of SLU's top players, Julia Brandenberg, missed today's game, and she will miss three to five more weeks after injuring her lower back earlier in the month, according to SLUBillikens.com. Brandenberg was selected to the Atlantic 10 preseason All-Conference team.