Senior Mackenzie Sauerwein can add another broken record to her already formidable list.
When Missouri (3-1-2) finished off a 1-0 win over the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks (4-1-0) on Sunday, Sauerwein became the Mizzou record holder in career shutouts with 18. The goalkeeper now owns the program’s career records in wins, shutouts, saves, games played in goal, games started in goal and minutes played in goal.
“That’s a big deal,” Mizzou coach Bryan Blitz said. “We’ve had a lot of very talented goalkeepers. I think for her the best thing she ever did was redshirt her freshman year.”
The Skyhawks jumped off the kickoff to a quick start, firing a one-timed shot wide of the goal just 14 seconds into the match on a Sunday afternoon complete with no clouds, sun and a gametime temperature of 70 degrees. Sunday’s weather was the polar opposite of the Tigers’ rain-soaked and lightning-delayed first home game Friday, which resulted in a 0-0 draw.
“We knew [this game] was going to be a big grind after what we experienced on Friday,” Blitz said. “But we don’t ever have an excuse, they had to grind it out.”
The Tigers eventually started making the Skyhawk defense sweat midway through the first half.
A through ball by junior forward Reagan Russell led to an offside call on senior forward Taylor Grant at the 18-minute mark. Six minutes later, senior midfielder Kaysie Clark and freshman midfielder Savannah Trujillo put on a passing clinic just outside of the Skyhawk box, but the final pass was just out in front of Clark and was snatched up in a slide by the Tennessee–Martin keeper.
Grant showed off her skill-set 26 minutes in when she made a move near midfield to get past defender and sprinted into the box with the ball where she was stopped in the box by another Skyhawk defender.
With 10 seconds left in the first half, a Skyhawk header was sent right into Sauerwein’s arms. Tennessee had a 6-4 edge in shots over the Tigers after 45 minutes of play.
The second half started off with a bang, but off the crossbar. A cross in the air found Russell’s head, but it deflected off the crossbar and out of bounds.
But Russell got her redemption. In the 55th minute the Tigers played a short corner to Clark, who lofted a ball to the far post. Russell was there waiting, and knocked it into the left corner of the net with her stomach, breaking a scoreless streak of over 160 minutes for the Tigers dating back to Friday’s match.
“Kaysie served a nice cross in and I just wanted to get on the end of it so I put whatever body part I could on the ball,” Russell said.
The assist was Clark’s fifth on the season, tying her career high dating back to her freshman year in 2011. Russell’s goal was her second of the year, and it knocked the wind out of her.
Three minutes after the goal, Clark and Russell nearly connected for a second time. A pass from Clark to Reagan was one-timed over the goal from eight yards out.
The match ended with 15-10 Tiger advantage in shots, which included a 12-4 edge for Missouri in the second half.
Coming into their match against Mizzou, the Skyhawks were off to their best start in school history with a perfect record of 4-0-0. In the first-ever game between the two schools, the Tigers handed the Skyhawks their first loss of the season.
The Tigers will remain at home as the squad hosts Montana on Friday, Sept. 12.
