The mood on the Missouri women’s soccer team’s bus last Friday night was somber.
The then-No.14 Tigers had just fallen to No. 9 Florida 2-1 in Gainesville after allowing two second-half goals. With the loss, they dropped out of a first-place tie with the Gators atop the Southeastern Conference East division.
“It sucked,” senior defender Allison Hu said. “We were really upset that night, but we knew we had a game on Sunday to focus on, and we had to get over it.”
The Tigers have played seven Friday-Sunday series so far this season, a schedule structure that limits their ability to dwell long on wins or losses. Missouri isn’t a stranger to this weekend format, but the team is new to the increased travel that flanks SEC teams. Because conference schools are spread out over such long distances, Friday night games are often followed by Saturday flights.
“Right at midnight the game is over and you’re on to the next one,” senior midfielder Kelsey Mulcahy said. “You’ve got to refocus as a group, especially with that quick of a turnaround.”
The Tigers were able to do just that this past Sunday, topping Alabama 2-1 on a late goal from junior Dominique Richardson in Tuscaloosa.
The bounce-back win was another notch in what is shaping into a historical season for the program. At 13-3, this year’s squad has already tallied the third most wins in school history. With three more regular season matches to go, the Tigers can tie the school record of 16, set in 2008.
Coach Brian Blitz’s team has been dominant at times on both sides of the ball. It has outscored opponents 32-12, thanks evenly in part to an attack that’s produced a conference-leading 327 shots and a defense on the cusp of the record books.
The fewest goals Missouri soccer has ever allowed in a season was 19 in 2008. This year’s group can set the new record by holding its next three opponents to under eight. The only time they’ve conceded two in a game this season was last Friday at Florida.
Blitz attributes the bulk of this team’s success to its resiliency, a trait most personified in its five seniors, which he calls a “blue-collar group.” Three of those seniors, including Mulcahy, were freshmen in 2008 when the Tigers were Big 12 Conference champions but left out of the NCAA Tournament.
“That had never happened before,“ Blitz said. “This group has that unique perspective of being brutally left out. From that standpoint, that’s what separates them. That’s how they’re able to stay humbled and grounded and keep everybody working.”
But Blitz wasn’t always so certain. Missouri faltered down the stretch last season, going 5-6 in its last 11 games after starting the year 7-1-1. There were questions going into the campaign, like whether senior forward Taiwo Adeshigbin could emerge as a scorer, and potential setbacks during it, like when junior leading scorer Alyssa Diggs went down with a hamstring injury on Aug. 19.
The next weekend the Tigers beat California 3-2 in Berkeley without their most dynamic offensive threat. Blitz said that was when he realized the kind of team he had.
“Cal was when we thought, ‘Wow, on the road, without Diggs, wow we have a little bit of depth here,’” Blitz said. “At that point we thought we had a pretty resilient group. I knew we were talented, but you never know about mentality and focus. That was an eye-opener for us.”
The Tigers have lost three times since then, but after each defeat they have answered with a win. Then they’re on to the next one.
