With all the talk the highly touted freshmen trio has generated, it would have been easy for Missouri soccer fans to forget about their sophomore sensations — midfielder Danielle Nottingham, forward Alyssa Diggs and preseason All-Big 12 midfielder Dominique Richardson.
In convincing performance, each netted her second goal of the season as MU (3-1) dominated the Purdue Boilermakers on the way to a 4-2 result that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.
Coach Bryan Blitz said he was excited about his team’s performance after a weekend sweep that included a Friday night upset of seventh-ranked Ohio State.
“Our goal was to put together two solid games on Friday and Sunday,” Blitz said. “After getting down by a goal, it was good to see the girls bounce back and get that goal right back. I’m proud of our will to win and the mental toughness we displayed this weekend.”
Missouri jumped all over the Boilermakers (1-3) out of the gates and tested redshirt sophomore goaltender Clara Kridler’s prowess in the Purdue net early and often.
The Tigers paid the price for a couple of missed opportunities when Purdue freshman forward Alex Hairston barreled down the right side, shook a Tiger defender and sent a perfectly placed cross to senior midfielder Alexis Tryba for the opening salvo of the match in the 20th minute.
The Tigers quickly responded five minutes later behind freshman midfielder Abi Raymer’s first career goal as a Tiger, evening the score up at one.
With eight corners in the opening 35 minutes and five shots going off the crossbar in rapid succession, MU finally inched ahead behind Richardson’s header in the 35th minute to grab a 2-1 lead. Junior defender Kelsey Mulcahy’s well-aimed corner kick set up the play and the Tigers headed to the locker rooms leading the fixture by the same score.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Richardson said. “If you just keep knocking on the door, it’ll come to you eventually and we stayed with it.”
In what is quickly becoming a theme in this young campaign, Missouri got off to a quick start in the second half as Nottingham slipped up the right side in the 50th minute, waited for the goalie to commit and drilled a shot inside of the far post for a 3-1 MU advantage.
The visiting Boilermakers tried to chip away, piecing together numerous chances before finally capitalizing in the 75th minute, slicing the deficit to a goal behind senior midfielder Kellie Phillips’ corner that ended up in the back of the net off the right cleat of streaking forward Kaitlyn Blacha.
Missouri flashed its resiliency and put away the match in the 80th minute when a four-on-three turned into a 4-2 lead after freshman midfielder Kaysie Clark threaded a pass through heavy traffic and Diggs beat Kridler with a blast to the far side.
“These are two huge wins for us,” Nottingham said. “Last year we got off to a slow start and if we keep playing like a team, connected like we are, we’re going to be pretty good this year.”
The Tigers return to action at 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening against the Northern Arizona at the Audrey J. Walton Complex.