Aug. 18, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Some teams shy away from expectation. Head Coach Bryan Blitz and the 2009 edition of her Tigers welcome them. Coming off the most successful season in Missouri history, Mizzou is not content to relish last year's Big 12 Conference Tournament title and second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament second round. The Tigers know what is expected of them this season and look forward to the challenge.
One of those expectations is claiming the Big 12 title. Mizzou and Texas A&M were picked to win the regular season title in a poll of league coaches. Individual expectations are high as well. Junior forward Alysha Bonnick was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List for the player of the year award.
Blitz, in his 14th season, has the advantage of leaning on the extensive talent and game experience of six returning seniors - Kristin Andrighetto, Michelle Collins, Tasha Dittamore, Meghan Pfeiffer, Bree Thornton and Crystal Wagner - to lead Missouri to the next level.
Seniors
The Tigers' last line of defense is in the steady hands of goalkeeper Tasha Dittamore. The senior posted 10 shutouts last season, a MU record, and holds the school mark in winning percentage with a 22-8-2 mark. Her play garnered her a spot on the NSCAA/adidas All-Central Region third team and Big 12 Tournament Defensive MVP honors.
Three-year starter Crystal Wagner will anchor the back line of a Tiger defense that is coming off records set last year. Thanks in part to Wagner's play, Mizzou allowed only 19 goals all season and recorded 12 shutouts, both team marks. She was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team and played for the United States U-23 National Team in two games against England over the summer.
Meghan Pfeiffer returns to the midfield with three years experience to her name. A hardnosed and tenacious player, the two-time All-Big 12 second team member can win balls with her superior heading and tackling ability. Pfeiffer was also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team.
Also returning to the midfield is Bree Thornton, who has started all 49 games that she has played in her collegiate career. She recorded nine points on three goals and three assists as a junior last year after coming back from a season-ending knee injury that cost her most of her sophomore campaign.
Up front Kristin Andrighetto returns for her senior year already ranked sixth in both points (69) and goals (27) in the Tiger record books. The striker is a two-time All-Big 12 first team honoree and was named to the Soccer Buzz All-Central Region second team last season.
Joining Andrighetto up top is Michelle Collins. The speedy forward ranked second on the team with 21 points on seven goals and seven assists as a junior and ranks eighth in the Mizzou annuls with 56 points and 20 goals.
Transfer Michelle Makasini joins Mizzou for her senior campaign following three seasons at LSU. A midfielder, she is a former TopDrawer Soccer All-America honorable mention and posted 27 goals and 68 points in her three years with the Tigers.
Juniors
A quartet of juniors return to the join the seven seniors as upperclassmen for Missouri in 2009.
In the midfield, Krista Kruse will use her strong play to help Mizzou control the action. She played in all 23 games last season and earned eight starts, including four of the last six games of the year. Kruse posted two goals in back-to-back games, including a tally against No. 6 Texas A&M.
Kelsey Stokes joins Kruse in the midfield. Stokes saw action in 21 contests a year ago with four starts, including games with No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 10 Texas. She will add much needed minutes and experienced to the midfield in 2009.
Seeing action in all 23 games a year ago, Kari Adam will see time up front for Mizzou. She tallied seven points on three goals and an assist last season, including a goal in the Tigers' 3-0 upset of No. 6 Texas A&M.
Bonnick, named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List before the season, rounds out Missouri's returning forwards from one year ago. A Soccer Buzz All-America fourth team selection last year, the striker led the Tigers with 26 points on 11 goals and four assists. Bonnick also earned All-Big 12 first team honors, just the third Tiger soccer player to earn such accolades.
Sophomores
The Tigers return six sophomores who saw plenty of action as freshman add even more depth to Blitz's squad.
Defender Mallory Stipetich earned valuable playing time last season on the back line. She played in 22 games and earned one start, a contest against No. 12 Oklahoma State. Stipetich also showed some offensive prowess as she tied for fourth on the team with nine points on four goals and an assist.
Kelsey Blincow, a midfielder, returns after a freshman campaign that saw her earn 11 starts, including 10 consecutive, and action in all 23 Tiger contests. She scored her first collegiate goal in a game with Eastern Washington and picked up an assist against Iowa.
Joining Blincow in the midfield is Candace Ruff, who tallied one start in 23 appearances last season. She played well in important games as she recorded the game-winning assist against No. 6 Texas A&M and notched a goal against Evansville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Also returning to action in the midfield is Brittany Hopkins, a redshirt sophomore who sat out last season while recovering from a knee injury suffered in 2007. She played 11 games and earned three starts as a freshman before suffering the injury.
A pair of forwards round out the sophomore class. Kendra Collins earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Newcomer team after playing in all 23 games in her inaugural season. Collins earned starts, four of which came against ranked foes, including No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 10 Texas, No. 10 Colorado and No. 21 California.
Another forward, Jessie Crabtree, played in 20 games during her freshman season and earned a start in the season opener against No. 17 Illinois. The forward picked up valuable experience that will carry over to her sophomore year.
Freshmen
Nine freshmen and an addition redshirt freshman round out the 2009 Missouri roster.
Goalkeeper Jessica Gwin, who hails from West Lafayette, Ind., gives Mizzou a steady backup to Dittamore. Named a Player to Watch by TopDrawerSoccer.com and to the NSCAA/adidas All-Region IV team, Gwin allowed just 0.51 goals per game as a senior in high school last year.
A trio of defenders should see immediate action on the backline as freshmen. Libertyville, Ill., native Kellie Gavigan was a part of the Eclipse Select Club team that won the USYSA National Championship in 2006 and were finalists in 2008. Kelsey Mulcahy, a former high school teammate of Michelle and Kendra Collins, helped Neuqua Valley High School to three consecutive regional championships from 2007-2009. The Naperville, Ill., product helped the school to a 18-4-1 mark as a senior. Fontana, Wis., native Sarah Thune rounds out Missouri's freshman defenders. The speedy Thune, her high school's 400 meter dash record holder, was a Rock Valley Conference first team selection in both soccer and basketball while at Big Foot High School.
Additionally redshirt freshman Liz Gayer will add depth to the defense as well. A hometown product from Columbia, Mo., Gayer redshirted last year as she improved on her skills while with the program.
The Tigers added a slew of midfielders to the mix who can also contribute both on the backline and up front when called upon. Haley Krentz, another product from Naperville, Ill., was a Player to Watch by TopDrawerSoccer.com and helped her high school squad to a 19-2-3 mark last season. She notched 11 goals and four assists during her senior campaign.
A native of Sedalia, Mo., Jessica Greer adds a scoring punch from the midfield. She tallied 60 points on 22 goals and 16 assists as a senior as Smith-Cotton High School recorded a 20-5-1 mark. Greer also was a two-time all-conference performer in football as a kicker. Another playmaker, Overland Park, Kan., product Molly Sylvester notched 69 points during her junior and senior seasons at Blue Valley Northwest on 25 goals and 19 assists.
Oak Park, Calif., native Stephanie Gilbert was a four-time all-conference first team honoree at Oak Park High School. Over her four year career Gilbert helped the squad to a 52-25-20 mark. Another Columbia native, Edith Lopez, was a member of the Class 3 All-Region team in 2008 and posted nine points on four goals and an assist during her senior campaign.
Schedule
Blitz and his staff have put together another challenging schedule that will prepare the Tigers for another postseason run. This year's slate features eight teams that earned bids to the 2008 NCAA Tournament and four contests with programs that finished the season in the NSCAA/adidas Top 25.
Mizzou`s home non-conference schedule features matchups with five schools. The Tigers will also travel to Los Angeles for games with UCLA and Loyola Marymount and to Alabama for contests with Auburn and Vanderbilt. The Big 12 slate contains an additional five programs that made the tournament last season: Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M.