The Missouri Tigers soccer team knew it had a tough task at hand when it played host to the nationally-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday night at Walton Stadium.
From the start of the match, MU made it evident to the seventh-ranked team in the country that it wasn’t going to just roll over. Instead, the Tigers matched OSU’s physicality, playing with an edge that had not yet been displayed this season en route to a 1-0 upset.
Coach Bryan Blitz was understandably ecstatic following Friday’s victory.
“We started it right away in the first minutes and that was huge,” Blitz said. “We learned a lot about how we need to play last week in the loss to San Diego, and it was evident we played the right style of soccer tonight.”
After feeling each other out the first 15 minutes, Ohio State recorded the first scoring chance of the match in the 17th minute, but MU keeper redshirt freshman McKenzie Sauerwein made a diving stop on OSU senior Paige Maxwell, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten Conference.
The scoring chances would continue later in the first half, as Sauerwein made two brilliant point-blank saves in the 28th and 29th minutes.
The redshirt freshman’s first half performance prompted coach Blitz to stray away from his halftime goalie swap, which he had done in each of MU’s first two regular season games.
Sauerwein continued to impress with her play in the second half after receiving her coach’s vote of confidence at the half.
Ohio State did not threaten as much as it had in the first half, but any attention lapse by Sauerwein and the outcome would have been totally different.
Despite the standout performance from the keeper, the splitting of playing time in net between Sauerwein and true freshmen Caroline Stanley is expected to remain in place.
“McKenzie had a great week of practice, we went with the hot hand and it paid off,” Blitz said. “[Sauerwein] bounced back really well tonight from the San Diego game, we’ll continue to analyze things on a daily basis.”
Sauerwein, though proud of her performance, is just fine with continuing to split time in net.
“Caroline and I take it day-by-day,” Sauerwein said. “She starts one match. I start one match. It’s a friendly competition.”
Sauerwein didn’t do it all by herself; the other 10 girls on the pitch also played a phenomenal match.
Sophomore midfielder Dominique Richardson tallied the lone goal of the match in the 51st minute, which sent the crowd of 625 into a frenzy.
Sophomore Danielle Nottingham crossed the ball into the box off a set piece. After a pair of blocked headers, the ball found its way onto Richardson’s foot. From there, the sophomore blasted a shot, which deflected off a Buckeye defender and into the net.
That goal would prove to be all the Tigers needed on this night, and also was a huge breakthrough for Richardson.
“That goal took a lot of pressure off my back,” Richardson said. “It was great doing it in front of my friends and family here tonight. The crowd was great.”
It’s a short turnaround for the Tigers, as they play host to the Purdue Boilermakers in a Sunday matinee at Walton Stadium.
“We have a rule — enjoy the win ’til midnight, but after that it’s over and onto the next game,” Blitz said. “This is a big win for where we’re at, but we don’t want to just be one and done.”
