Two first half goals by Texas would prove to be insurmountable for Missouri on Sunday, as the Tigers came up short in their quest to complete a weekend sweep for the first time in almost a month in a 2-1 loss.
“It’s certainly a hard loss,” coach Bryan Blitz said. “Our kids are hurting, but that’s a good thing, it shows it matters to them. Hats off to Texas though for coming in here on a Sunday and getting a victory.”
MU (9-5, 1-3 conference) got on the board first, thanks to a brilliant goal from 25 feet out in the 13th minute by sophomore midfielder Haley Krentz.
Krentz’s shot from distance slipped right between the hands of a diving Texas keeper and just under the crossbar.
The lead would not last long as the Longhorns answered with a goal of their own nine minutes later.
Fast-forward 15 more minutes, and Texas would strike again, this time freshman Allison Smith scored, the first of her collegiate career.
With the goal came a little bit of controversy, as the Longhorn forward who assisted on Smith’s goal appeared to be offside as UT entered the goal box.
Blitz stated the call “could have gone either way,” while deflecting blame for the loss to areas other than the officiating.
Regardless of the no-call, the harsh reality is that that Tigers’ inability to convert their scoring chances into goals once again did them in.
Scoring chances were by no means abundant Sunday, but the ones that did arise were squandered. Sophomore forward Alyssa Diggs had two opportunities in the box in the second half’s early going, and both chances, albeit tough chances, went awry.
Fellow sophomore midfielder Danielle Nottingham crossed a ball into the box in the 87th minute, but nobody was there to gather it and the ball trickled just wide of the net and out of bounds for a goal kick.
Junior forward Taiwo Adeshigbin twice had the ball at her feet in a solid position to score but fired off two errant shots that never threatened the keeper.
“We didn’t do what we were capable of today,” a frustrated Dominique Richardson said. “Texas played good but it was more of what we didn’t do than what they (Texas) did do. I think we got comfortable after we scored. We just stopped fighting.”
