Aug. 22, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Rankings:
MU: 22 (TopDrawer), 25 (Soccer America), RV (NSCAA/adidas, SoccerTimes.com)
UI: 17 (Soccer America) 19 (NSCAA/adidas), 20 (TopDrawer), 24 (SoccerTimes.com)
All-Time Series: MU leads 4-2 (Last meeting: MU 3, UI 1; 8/31/07)
Coaches:
Missouri: Bryan Blitz, 170-158-18 at MU (13th season)
Illinois: Janet Rayfield, 81-43-10 at UI (seventh season)
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 22 Missouri soccer team kicks off its 2008 campaign with a home match against rival and No. 20 Illinois at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23 at Walton Stadium. The Tigers and Fighting Illini have met six times on the soccer pitch, with Mizzou holding a 4-2 lead in the series, including two straights wins over Illinois.
Entering their 13th season in program history, all at the helm of Head Coach Bryan Blitz, the Tigers are coming off a 2007 season that featured their third NCAA Tournament appearance, a 13-8-1 overall record, a dramatic 4-3 double-overtime upset of No. 4 Texas A&M and an unprecedented number of postseason individual accolades.
Up Next
After its matchup with Illinois, Missouri welcomes Southeastern Conference foe Auburn to Walton Stadium for a 6:30 p.m. contest on Friday, Aug. 29 in Mizzou Soccer Goes Green Day. Fans will receive free admission to the match if they bring used cell phones, VHS tapes, DVDs, ink cartridges and rechargable cell phone and camera batteries to be recycled.
Mizzou Picked to Finish Third in Big 12
The Tigers were picked to finish third in the Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll in a vote by league coaches. Texas was picked to win the 2008 Big 12 soccer championship after receiving five first-place votes and 94 points. Texas A&M, chosen second, received four first-place votes and 93 points, while Missouri came in third with 77 points and two first-place votes. The remainder of the poll consisted of Oklahoma State in fourth place, followed by Colorado, Kansas, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Baylor.
Three Tigers Named to Preseason All-Big 12 Team
Three Mizzou players, senior Mo Redmond and juniors Kristin Andrighetto and Meghan Pfeiffer, were selected to the 12-member Preseason All-Big 12 team, also voted on by conference coaches. Missouri's three selections tied Texas for the league lead. As a sophomore in 2007, Andrighetto became only the second player in Tiger history to earn All-Big 12 first team honors, joining former All-American Nikki Thole. Redmond and Pfeiffer both earned All-Big 12 second team accolades a year ago.
Scouting Illinois
For the second straight season, Missouri and Illinois meet up in both school's season opener. The Fighting Illini open the 2008 campaign ranked in every preseason poll and picked to finish second in the Big Ten Conference. Illinois is coming off a season where the squad posted a 12-7-2 mark and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Notre Dame, 2-0.
The fighting Illini are led by senior Emily Zurrer, who was named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List on Tuesday. The defender comes into her final season as a two-time All-American and a member of the 2008 Canadian Olympic team.
Missouri holds a 4-2 lead in the all-time series and has won the last two matchups between the teams. Last year the Tigers earned a 3-1 victory in Champaign, Ill., off two goals from Michelle Collins and another from Kristin Andrighetto.
Mizzou Earns Tie, Win in Exhibition Play
Missouri posted a 1-0-1 mark in exhibition action this preseason. The Tigers first hit the pitch on Aug. 14 and earned a 1-1 tie against Creighton in Omaha, Neb. Both teams were kept off the scoreboard until the 85th minute when Creighton's Kyla Hoskins knocked in a breakaway opportunity. Just one minute later, Tiger freshman Liz Gayer collected a pass from sophomore Krista Kruse and put a 12-yard shot past the Blue Jay keeper to tie the contest at 1-1.
Three days later on Aug. 17, Mizzou's offense came together in a 5-0 win over Illinois State thanks in part to a hat trick from sophomore Alysha Bonnick. Senior Kat Tarr got the Tigers on the board in the 25th minute off a penalty kick after Bonnick was brought down in the box. Freshman Kendra Collins upped Missouri's lead to 2-0 when she beat the Redbird goalie to the far post in the 36th minute.
Bonnick added her first goal just 16 seconds into the second half, off a feed from Kruse and tallied her second when junior Kristin Andrighetto lofted a ball from the goal line and Bonnick headed into the far post. The forward closed out the scoring with just 14 seconds left in the contest when she headed in a pass junior Bree Thornton for a 5-0 Missouri victory.
Tigers in the Preseason Polls
Missouri earned spots in two preseason top-25 polls and received votes for two others over the past few weeks. The Tigers are ranked 22nd by TopDrawerSoccer and tied with William & Mary at 25th by Soccer America. In the SoccerTimes.com poll, Mizzou came up just shy of the top-25 with 32 points, essentially finising 26th. Additionally, Missouri picked up nine votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas top-25 poll.
Offense Galore
Mizzou expects to see little to no offensive drop off in 2008 as the team returns 96 percent of its goal scoring from a 2007 squad that tallied 53 goals on the year and ranked seventh in the nation in scoring offense.
Missouri's big three - Kristin Andrighetto, Michelle Collins, and Alysha Bonnick - are back in Tiger uniforms one year after combing for 99 points on 37 goals and 25 assists last season. Andrighetto's 14 goals were the most by a Tiger since 1999 and her 37 points was the best output since 2001. Bonnick broke just about every freshman scoring record in 2007 with 11 goals, 10 assists and 32 points
Back at Full Strength
One year after suffering season-ending knee injuries, junior Bree Thornton and sophomore Brittany Hopkins are fully recovered and are expected to see significant minutes this season. Thornton started the first seven games for the Tigers in 2007 but suffered her injury against California on Sept. 21 and missed the final 15 games of the season. The then-sophomore had been looked on to contribute on offense after recording 13 points on five goals and three assists as a freshman in 2006.
Hopkins saw action in 11 games in her freshman campaign before she was injured on Oct. 12 in the contest with Oklahoma. The midfielder had posted three starts prior to the injury.
Missouri Turns Heads in 2007
The 2007 Missouri Tigers entered the season with high expectations from themselves but little expected of them from the outside. Mizzou proved the doubters wrong as the team played tough opponent after tough opponent and earned its third NCAA Tournament berth in program history.
The 2007 Tigers finished fourth in the Big 12 Conference standings, recorded a double-overtime upset of No. 4 Texas A&M, played No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Santa Clara within one goal on the road and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national champion USC, 1-0, in double-overtime.
Tigers Earn Postseason Honors
An unprecedented eight Tigers earned postseason honors after the 2007 season. Kristin Andrighetto led the way with spots on the Soccer Buzz All-America fourth team, Soccer Buzz All-Central Region first team, NSCAA/adidas All-Central Region second team and the All-Big 12 first team. Alysha Bonnick took home the Big 12 Rookie of the Year award, in addition to Soccer America and Soccer Buzz All-Freshman second team, NSCAA/adidas All-Central Region second team, Soccer Buzz All-Central Region third team and All-Big 12 Newcomer team accolades.
Michelle Collins, Meghan Pfeiffer, Mo Redmond and Kat Tarr were selected to the All-Big 12 second team, Collins and Redmond earned spots on the NSCAA/adidas All-Central Region third team and Redmond was named to the Soccer Buzz All-Central Region third team.
Additionally, Tasha Dittamore and Katya Hessel earned All-Big 12 Newcomer team honors and Head Coach Bryan Blitz was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
Six Newcomers Added to the Mix
Head Coach Bryan Blitz and his staff brought in six freshmen that should all see significant minutes in their first seasons with Missouri:
Kelsey Blincow (Midfielder, 5-6): The Lewisville, Texas, native was named the Dallas Area Girls Soccer Player of the Year by the Dallas Morning News in 2008. She helped Hebron High School to the region I-5A championship game en route to being named a top-75 recruit by Soccer Buzz.
Kendra Collins (Midfielder/Forward, 5-7): Sister of junior Michelle Collins, the Naperville, Ill., native recorded 34 points on 13 goals and eight assists as a senior. She earned Illinois High School Association All-Section honors in 2008.
Jessie Crabtree (Forward/Midfielder, 5-5): The forward/midfielder finished her prep career ranked 10th all-time in Illinois history with 142 goals. A native of Marion, Ill., Crabtree was a two-time all-state and four-time all-sectional honoree for Marion High School.
Liz Gayer (Defender, 5-5): A hometown product of Columbia, Mo., Gayer earned Class 2 Central Region Player of the Year honors in 2007 as a junior. She was selected as a St. Louis Metro All-Area honoree by Rise Magazine and was a three-time Class 2 District 10 first team honoree.
Candace Ruff (Midfielder, 5-7): Ruff, a native of Hinsdale, Ill., earned all-conference honors three times and all-area and all-sectional honors two times in her high school career. She helped lead Fenwick High School to conference and regional championships in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Mallory Stipetich (Defender, 5-6): A defender from Liberty, Mo., Stipetich scored 37 goals and 50 assists in her prep career en route to Class I All-State third team and All-Kansas City, all-district and all-conference first team honors as a senior.