University of Missouri
2-2-1
Southern California
2-0-0
No. 7 Southern Cal Claims Hard-Fought 2-0 Win Over @MizzouSoccer
9/1/2017 9:37:00 PM | Soccer
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Mizzou soccer team played even for a half but No. 7 Southern Cal, the defending national championships, used two second half goals to post a 2-0 win over Missouri Friday night in front of 1,310 fans at Walton Stadium. The Tigers fell to 2-2-1 with the loss, while the Trojans improved to 2-0-0.
TURNING POINT
After an evening played first half, the Trojans tallied the game's first goal only 29 seconds into the second half when Tara McKeown scored off an assist from Sydney Myers. They added another goal only seven minutes later in the 53rd minute of action.
KEY MOMENTS
Mizzou looked poised to take an early lead when freshman Tess Rellihan (Kansas City, Missouri) was fouled at the edge of the box. Both teams originally lined up for a Tiger penalty kick but the foul was deemed outside the box for a Missouri free kick instead.
The Tigers threatened later in the first half with near-chances by senior Kaitlyn Clark (Liberty, Missouri) and sophomore Grace Kitts (Leawood, Kansas) in the 35 and 36 minutes. First, the Trojan keeper got her hand on a Clark sent a rope of a shot toward goal from 25-yards out. The goalie tipped the shot enough to knock the ball off the crossbar. On the ensuing corner, Clark's cross found the head of Kitts, who headed toward the right post. Her shot beat USC's keeper but was knocked away at the goalline by a Trojan defender.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Bryan Blitz
"We wanted to play the national champs. We made that phone call two days after they won because we wanted to see how far we were off them. I was proud of their effort but we have to learn quickly. When you play a national championship team you can't give up two goals that quick."
MIZZOU NOTES
- The match's attendance of 1,310 stands as the eighth-biggest crowd in program history
- Senior Kaitlyn Clark, sophomore Sarah Luebbert and freshman Zoe Cross each led the squad with two shots apiece
- Senior Allie Hess earned her first minutes of 2017 after dealing with an injury to start the season
- Freshman Tess Rellihan earned the first start of her career
- Also earning a start for the first time in 2017 was redshirt junior Lauren Gaston
- Eight different Tigers have started all five matches so far in 2017: redshirt senior Kristen Rivers, seniors Clark and Savannah Trujillo, redshirt sophomore Payton Goulding, sophomores Peyton Joseph and Luebbert and freshmen Mo Adesanmi and Macy Trujillo
UP NEXT
The Tigers travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to face TCU on Sunday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. CT. The match will be televised live on Fox Sports Southwest.
Team Stats
McKeown, Tara (1)
Assisted By: Myers, Sydney
Tap-in off cross into the box
45:29
DeMelo, Savannah (1)
Assisted By: McKeown, Tara
Low 16-yd strike off cross from right en
52:22
