A goal in the 86th minute by Missouri soccer’s Allie Hess leveled up the scoreboard Thursday night against Texas A&M. After double overtime, neither team could find the back of the net, resulting in a 1-1 tie.
The game started off quick with a Texas A&M goal in the second minute by freshman Grace Piper. After the fast start, however, there was a scoring drought of 84 minutes. This was the result of great play in goal by both Mizzou’s Kelsey Dossey and Texas A&M’s Danielle Rice, in combination with poor finishing from both sides.
Finishing goals has been a point of weakness for the Tigers throughout the season, often only scoring on a fraction of their shot attempts. The Tigers once again had more shots than their opponent, outmatching the Aggies 23 shots to 18. However, each team only scored one goal, an interesting phenomenon considering 41 shots were attempted.
The game was also a physical one. Each team reached double digits in fouls, 15 for Texas A&M and 10 for Mizzou. In addition, the Tigers were handed four yellow cards throughout the game.
This physicality is not new to neither the sport of women’s soccer nor Mizzou’s style of play. However, what is something of note is the way the referees called today’s game. Usually, physical plays like the ones exhibited in this game are left alone. In today’s game, though, the officials were not allowing the same sort of freedom the players have undoubtedly grown accustom to, resulting in an unprecedented amount of fouls and bookings.
This was another close, evenly-matched game for the Tigers and, again, they were not able to pull out the win. This has been a problem for the Tigers throughout the season. Early in the season, wins were often the results of blowouts or uneven matches. Coach Bryan Blitz previously noted that the team would have to learn how to win close games, because not every game would be a blowout.
Mizzou’s next game is at home against Alabama at 1 p.m. Sunday and will be broadcast on SEC Network +.
_Edited by Peter Baugh | pbaugh@themaneater.com_
