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
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.
