Sept. 4, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 22 University of Missouri soccer team will travel out to California this weekend for contests against a pair of West Coast programs. The Tigers first take on No. 21 Cal on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 11 a.m. PT (1 p.m. CT) in Berkeley, Calif. Mizzou then returns to the pitch the very next day in a game with Eastern Washington at 10 a.m. PT (12 p.m. CT) on Sunday, Sept. 7. Both games will be played at Edwards Stadium on Cal's campus. Cal enters its game with Missouri with a 2-1-0 record and is coming off a 6-0 win over Saint Joseph's on Sunday while Eastern Washington is 0-2-1 this year after a 2-0 loss to Texas State its last time out.
Last Time Out
The Tigers posted their first victory of 2008 with a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten SEC-foe Auburn on Friday, August 29 at Walton Stadium. Sophomore Kari Adam scored the game winner in the 72nd minute on assists from senior Mo Redmond and junior Meghan Pfeiffer - the first points of the season for all three players. The goal was the first allowed by Auburn in 2008, as Missouri outshot Auburn 23-11 with a 8-4 edge in shots on goal. The game was also a success off the field, as the Mizzou Soccer "Go Green" effort collected both electronic and traditional recyclables from the 655 fans in attendance.
Dittamore Earns Weekly Honor
Junior goalkeeper Tasha Dittamore was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for her shutout performance against Auburn on Friday where she made four saves in earning the victory. The Granite City, Ill., native now has 11 saves and a .846 save percentage after two games in net this season and is the current conference leader in saves per game with a 5.5 average. The weekly award is the first of her career and the first for a Missouri player in 2008.
Dittamore has played every minute in goal for the Tigers this year after a sophomore season when she compiled a 6-3 record with three shutouts, 21 saves, and a 1.21 goals against average while sharing time with Mallory Forst. She was selected to the 2007 Big 12 All-Newcomer team, having transferred to Missouri from Dayton following her freshman year.
Tigers in the Polls
Missouri secured their No. 22 spot in the TopDrawerSoccer.com rankings with the win last weekend. The Tigers are one of four Big 12 teams in the top 25. The team also received votes in the Soccer Times and NSCAA/adidas polls, falling just outside both top 25 lists. Missouri is also currently ranked No. 8 in the NSCAA/adidas Central Regional Rankings.
TopDrawer Soccer National Rankings
1. Florida State 3-0-0
2. UCLA 3-0-0
3. North Carolina 3-0-0
4. Notre Dame 3-0-0
5. Portland 2-1-0
6. Texas 3-0-0
7. Stanford 3-0-0
8. USC 2-1-0
9. Duke 3-2-0
10. Penn State 2-1-0
11. Texas A&M 3-1-0
12. Santa Clara 2-1-0
13. Connecticut 1-2-0
14. West Virginia 2-1-0
15. Virginia 3-0-0
16. Boston College 2-1-0
17. Oklahoma State 2-0-0
18. Illinois 3-0-0
19. Wake Forest 3-0-0
20. Tennessee 1-2-0
21. Florida 2-1-0
22. Missouri 2-1-0
23. Purdue 2-1-0
24. Clemson 3-0-0
25. LSU 3-0-0
Schedule Changes in California
Along with the two-hour change in time zones from Central Time to Pacific Time, the Tigers also have a schedule change for the trip to California. Originally scheduled to play UC-Davis on Friday, Sept. 5 and California on Sun., Sept. 7, the game against Cal has been moved to Sat., Sept. 6 at 1 pm CT. The UC-Davis match has been cancelled and instead the Tigers will take on Eastern Washington University on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 12 pm CT in a neutral site matchup at the University of California.
Scouting Cal
Perennial Pac-10 Conference power Cal (2-1-0) enters Saturday's match ranked No. 21 in the nation (NSCAA/adidas) and is coming off a 6-0 win over Saint Joseph's in the Cal Invitational, in which they lost the opener to Cal State Fullerton 3-2 in overtime. The Golden Bears' attack has been led this season by redshirt sophomore Lisa Kevorkian who has four goals and one assist this season after returning from a season-ending knee injury a year ago. Sophomore forward Alex Morgan, a member of the U-20 Women's National Team, has also contributed three goals and two assists this season.
Missouri leads the all-time series 2-1-1 and will look for a repeat result after last year's 4-0 victory over a strong Cal team that finished 15-5-1 and made the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Scouting Eastern Washington
Missouri will play Eastern Washington University for the first time on Sunday. The Eagles (0-2-1) are coming off the most successful season in their program's history, finishing 9-8-0 and in fifth-place in the Big Sky Conference in 2007. EWU hosts Cal State Bakersfield on Friday before traveling to Berkeley, Calif., for the neutral site match with Missouri on Sunday.
Freshman midfielder April Coffin has Eastern Washington's only goal of the year, which she picked up in a 1-1 tie with Louisiana-Lafayette on Aug. 29.
Heading Out West
The Tigers first road trip of 2008 will be a long one as they travel to the west coast. How long? From Columbia to Berkeley, Calif. is 3,854 miles roundtrip - or almost 500 miles farther than Missouri will travel in the rest of the 2008 regular season schedule combined.
Sept. 26-28
Columbia -- Ames = 273 miles
Ames -- Lincoln = 223.5 miles
Lincoln -- Columbia = 320.5 miles
Oct. 10-12
Columbia -- Norman = 468 miles
Norman -- Stillwater = 80.5 miles
Stillwater --Columbia = 418 miles
Oct. 19
Columbia -- College Station = 787 miles
College Station -- Columbia = 787 miles
Total = 3,357.5 miles
Double Duty
Due to the schedule change, the Tigers face an unprecedented task: playing on back-to-back days for the first time in regular season program history. With kickoff times set for 1 pm CT on Saturday against Cal and 12 pm CT on Sunday against Eastern Washington, the Tigers will play two games less than 24 hours apart. All told, Missouri has played on back-to-back days five times in Big 12 Tournament postseason play -- most recently in 2003 when the Tigers beat Colorado on Thursday, Nov. 6 to become the first eight-seed to upset the one-seed in the opening round and then followed it up the next day with the team's first ever win over Nebraska to clinch their spot in the conference championship.
Heading Home
The Tigers' trip to Berkeley, Calif., will be a welcome one for junior Kristin Andrighetto. The Pleasant Hill, Calif. native attended Carondelet High School less than 20 miles away, where she totaled 86 goals and 33 assists in her prep career and led the Cougars to a 16-1-1 record in her senior season. Carondelet also boasts notable alumni Natalie Coughlin, who became the first American female to win six medals in one Olympics at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing last month, as well as former US Women's National Team soccer player Tiffany Roberts, who helped the US win the 1999 Women's World Cup and the gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Mizzou Picked to Finish Third in the 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.