COLUMBIA — Senior Kristin Andrighetto scored two goals to propel the Missouri women’s soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Iowa State on Friday night at Walton Stadium.
The first half was scoreless with only nine shots on goal from both teams combined. The Tigers (12-4-3, 7-0-2) had trouble connecting on passes and penetrating the goal box. Coach Bryan Blitz attributed the slow start to a combination of distractions because of senior night and the cold, wet weather.
“We didn’t use the elements to our advantage” Blitz said. “We kept playing the ball in the air and it was difficult because it was wet or it would skip … we enhanced the elements the way we played in the first half.”
Missouri came out stronger in the second half with goals by Andrighetto in the 50th minute and Jessie Crabtree in the 73rd minute. Andrighetto sealed the Tigers’ victory with a quick goal just 15 seconds after Crabtree’s. According to Blitz, Andrighetto is a integral part of the team’s success.
“Kristin’s been working hard doing extra work shooting for the past couple of weeks,” Blitz said. “It looked like her hard work has paid off for her. It’s senior night and you always want to win for your seniors especially this senior class is potentially the most successful senior class in the history of Mizzou soccer.”
Before the game began, each senior was introduced and was given balloons and greeted by their parents on the field. Andrighetto’s parents joined her from California for the seniors’ last home games this weekend.
“It’s a really special game,” Andrighetto said. “We wanted to come out hard and win and continue to do well in the Big 12, and the fact that it’s senior night and I got lucky enough to make two goals, it was just really exciting, especially since my parents are here.”
The Tigers, who remain in the lead in the conference standings after the victory, have won nine consecutive games and look to have a good chance to become Big 12 Conference champions in their 1 p.m. game against Nebraska on Sunday at Walton Stadium. It would be the first conference championship for the soccer program.
“It’s amazing,” Andrighetto said. “Bree Thornton and I were talking about it today and we just want to go as long as we can. This year is our last year. (We want to) go as hard as we can and take it one game at a time like we’ve been doing, but also pride ourselves on how we’ve been doing.”