Keeper’s nice stop one of few positives

Minutes into the second half, and down by three goals, Missouri goalkeeper Mallory Forst awaited the penalty kick of Baylor forward Missy McConnell. The penalty kick was the first that Forst has faced this season and could have decided the shape that the soccer game would take in its remaining minutes.

Forst swatted McConnell’s kick and the ensuing rebound to halt the scoring drive. Forst’s intensity showed how much her play improved in the second half but was also one of few bright spots in a 3-0 loss to the Bears on Sunday.

“She is a goalkeeper, and we expect her to save every shot that she faces, so we didn’t feel it was outside of her realm,” coach Bryan Blitz said. “It was a good save on her part.”

Under pressure for a much of the first half, Forst was tagged for three goals off Tigers defensive miscues. An unwavering pressure around the net enabled the Bears to put a throw-in and a deflection past the first-year net-minder.

The Tigers, who had not allowed three goals in a game this season until Friday, did so for the second game in a row.

“I think in the first couple of games, we were a different team, and we just need to get back to being an attacking defense,” defender Lindsay McCoy said.

Some defenders pointed to communication breakdowns along the back line as reasons for what Blitz called“soft goals.”

“I think we have a back line of really calm-natured girls to begin with, but we have to be strong in what we say and mean it and work hard,” defender Kat Tarr said.

Mirroring the defense, the Tigers’ offense continued its struggles as they were shut out for a third time in the past five contests despite outshooting the opposition for the 12th straight game. The team has not led in regulation since a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin two weeks ago and is still adjusting to an offense without injured forward Ashley Hamblin.

“It’s hard because she was a huge part of the attack, but we are working it out and I think we did a better job of combining and getting used to each other,” Thornton said.

Blitz mentioned Thornton’s effort as a positive in an generally-flawed performance. Missouri continually had scoring chances but failed to connect on any of its 23 shots.

“I don’t feel we had too many great opportunities, but we certainly had more shots than them, so you have to take what you can get,” Thornton said.

Despite their struggles, the Tigers (8-3-0, 0-3-0), limited the Bears to only 13 shots and gave their coach at least one positive to take into the week of practice and later on the road at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State next weekend.

“We can take the second half effort into next week’s practice,” Blitz said. “We are where we are at right now, and the goal is to go into practice and try and fight back.”