Missouri soccer can’t seem to catch a break.
In its fourth consecutive loss of the season, Missouri fell early to the No. 4 Southern California Trojans. USC scored once in both halves, finishing the game with a 2-0 win over Missouri, who has failed to find the net in its past 369 minutes of gameplay. The MU loss came despite a strong showing by senior goalkeeper Kelsey Dossey, who logged 10 saves and faced 29 shots, setting a new season high for saves as well as tying her career high, which she set last season during an SEC Tournament game against LSU.
USC dominated ball possession in the first half, registering 15 shots, eight of which were on target. Its first goal came during the 27th minute from the foot of redshirt sophomore Savannah DeMelo, assisted by sophomore Tara McKeown. DeMelo leads the Trojans this season with three goals and four assists.
Missouri’s sole shot of the first half came from freshman Julissa Cisneros in the 37th minute.
The Tigers attempted to turn their offensive play around during the second half, with both Cassidy Nurnberger, Madison Lewis, and even defender Peyton Joseph taking shots on goal. However, the push was not enough to turn the tides against their toughest opponent of the season so far. USC junior Jalen Woodward found the net for her first goal of the season during the 64th minute of the game off of an assist from DeMelo.
The Trojans pounded at Missouri’s defense down the stretch, logging 16 shots in the second half, with 6 being on goal, and finished the game with a total of 31 shots — although Dossey and the rest of Missouri’s defense only allowed USC to find the back of the net twice.
Looking for silver lining amid the skid, Missouri coach Bryan Blitz was proud of the Tigers’ improvement against the top-10 team.
“We came to play a really tough USC on their turf,” Blitz said in a press release. “We had our chances towards the end to make it close, and I think we got better today,”
USC will now move to a record of 5-0-1 with a two game win streak, while Missouri will head home with a record of 1-4-1 going into Sunday’s game against Gonzaga.
_Edited by Bennett Durando | bdurando@themaneater.com_