Missouri soccer traveled to Arkansas looking for an impressive upset. Instead of a positive result, the Tigers went home with a 6-1 loss to the Razorbacks.
As time ticked down in the first half, the hosts hurried to get the ball set in the corner. With seven seconds remaining, the ball came into the box toward Missouri junior goalkeeper McKenna Sheehan, who punched it away, but only as far as Arkansas junior forward Anna Podojil, who delivered a goal for the Razorbacks.
A few weeks ago, Missouri head coach Stefanie Golan said she doesn’t have a problem with the quantity of shots her team lets up. Instead, she only focuses on the quality of those shots. Golan said she would prefer to let up 30 poor quality shots over two or three quality ones.
Against Arkansas, the Tigers gave up not only a large number of shots, but also a great number of quality shots.
The first goal came from Arkansas’ senior midfielder Kayla McKeon, who delivered the blow in the 23rd minute after collecting a clearance and finding the back of the net from about 12 yards out.
The Tigers failed to register a single shot on goal in the first half, but had a trio of corners late in the half while only down 1-0. Missouri failed to convert any of these opportunities, but it felt as if it finally applied resistance on to a comfortable Arkansas team.
In the 44th minute, McKeon controlled the ball at the top of the box and played it to her left side as she stepped into a powerful shot with her left foot. That one got by Sheehan, and the Tigers’ deficit grew to 2-0.
In the second half, Arkansas added another goal when sophomore forward Kiley Dulaney finished off a 1-on-1 in the box to extend the lead to 4-0.
The Tigers weren’t held scoreless though. After a few passes, freshman midfielder Jenna McCormick provided a inch-perfect through ball to set up graduate midfielder Cassidy Nurnberger. However, the Razorbacks added two more late goals to close the game out.
Golan brought star freshman midfielder Milena Fischer off the bench again last Friday night. Despite not starting, Fischer made an impact while she was in. She controlled the pace of play when the ball was at her feet and drew plenty of attention from Arkansas defenders. Although the Tigers’ main goal scorer throughout much of 2021, Fischer hasn’t started the last few games.
Missouri returns home to face Ole Miss Thursday at 6 p.m. with three games remaining in the regular season. The Tigers –– who are toward the bottom of SEC standings –– will need to make a late season push if they are going to make the conference tournament, since only the top 10 SEC teams qualify.
Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com
