For the second straight game to start the season, Missouri found itself playing deep into overtime in a deadlocked match. This time, however, the contest ended differently, with an Iowa State University own goal handing the Tigers their first win of the season, 2-1.
After playing out two 10-minute overtimes in a 0-0 tie against the University of Iowa on Friday, Missouri (1-0-1) traveled from Iowa City to Ames, Iowa to meet the Cyclones, who had begun their season with a much more comfortable 2-0 home win over South Dakota State University.
Junior forward Sarah Luebbert, Missouri’s top goalscorer in 2017, had two scoring chances stopped in a scoreless first half. But it was a freshman connection in the 58th minute that gave Mizzou its first goal and lead of the new season. Blythe Beldner, who had hit the post with a shot of her own in the first half, served up Skye Kingsley for a header that broke the tie.
The Cyclones (1-1) drew level in the 80th minute when a free kick into the box by midfielder Hannah Cade found the head of fellow midfielder Kasey Opfer. Opfer directed the ball just beyond senior goalkeeper Kelsey Dossey’s reaching hand for the Tigers’ first conceded goal of the year.
Dossey, who led Missouri in minutes played in goal in 2017, was making her first start of the season after a seven-save shutout performance on Friday from redshirt sophomore Mercedes Sapp.
Apart from allowing the Iowa State goal, Dossey put on a show with eight saves, including a remarkable stop to send the game to overtime.
In the final seconds of the second half, Cyclone midfielder Taylor Wagner received a backwards pass well outside the 18-yard box. With no time to spare, she hit a one-time shot that arced toward the top of the Missouri net, where Dossey pushed it up and over the bar just as time expired.
The first overtime period was scoreless, and after seven more minutes in the second overtime, a Beldner ball into the box found the foot of a Cyclone defender and wound up in the net to end the game.
“I am excited that our team showed grit against a good Iowa State team,” head coach Bryan Blitz said in a press release. “Two overtime games on the road and to find a way to win in the last [minutes] like that, we will absolutely take that.”
With the opening weekend of the season in the books, Missouri will be back in action next Saturday as it travels to play at Colorado. The Buffaloes, who received 17 votes in the preseason United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll, will likely be the Tigers’ toughest test of the season so far.
_Edited by Bennett Durando | bdurando@themaneater.com_
