Creighton got off to a flying start on the opening kickoff by executing a set piece on the whistle and pressuring Missouri into an own goal 22 seconds into the match. But after that, the final 89-plus minutes were dictated by the Tigers’ pressure and speed as they walked away with a 3-1 road win on a sticky hot Sunday night at Morrison Stadium.
Maddie Radke was key to Missouri’s own-goal to start the game (Spomer / WBR)
On the opening touch, Creighton connected five straight passes culminating in a ball over the top from senior defender Hannah Luke to senior forward Maddie Radke in the 18-yard box. Radke’s settled the ball and fired a shot at the 10-second mark. Missouri goalkeeper Kate Phillips stonewalled, but Radke regained possession on the end line and sent the ball back out to senior right back Gabby Grimaldi who fired it back into the box and off Tigers’ defender Grace Pettet’s head for an own goal and a 1-0 lead after just 22 seconds had ticked off the game clock. It was the fastest any team has scored a goal at Morrison Stadium, but it would end up being the only offense produced by the Bluejays until the 83rd minute as Missouri quickly seized control and never gave it back for a long enough stretch that would allow them to be punished.
Sophomores Kylee Simmons and Mallory McGuire tallied the goals for Mizzou. Simmons tied the match in the 9th minute, McGuire put home the game-winner in the 44th just before halftime, and Simmons put the game on ice in the 70th to punctuate a day for the visitors that ended in a 17-3 edge in shots and a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks. Creighton struck first, but Missouri struck more often, and never let the Jays breathe until the final whistle.
“When you get the first goal you should be able to feed off of it, but I didn’t like our response to it,” Creighton head coach Ross Paule said. “I thought we backed off and allowed pressure to get on top of us, and [Missouri] grew into the game and got a goal. We never really got into the flow in this game. It was an interesting game in that we never put together long enough stretches to take back over the game. We put in some good stretches, but not enough consistency.”
Missouri’s speed, particularly on the right flank with the freshmen duo of Brianna Buels and Shania Spriggs, created a walking nightmare in transition that Creighton was never able to solve. Moments of individual brilliance by 5th-year goalkeeper Keelan Terrell — who came up with seven high-level saves on the night — the final score could have been much more lopsided than the 3-1 final. Unlike Thursday night’s season-opener against Nebraska, the Bluejays couldn’t settle the game down and get into their rhythm to put Missouri on the back foot.
“When you have that type of a threat in behind you always have to be aware of it. You can’t teach speed and that was some serious speed on that side. The way you take away speed is you keep the ball more and take them out of the game instead of giving them the ball and allowing them to transition. That’s where it hurt. Credit to them — they’re a very good team and they do a really good job of transitioning.
“We worked really hard. I would never ever say that our team doesn’t work hard because I know they do. I just felt like we got caught in between. We played more like individuals, and when you play like individuals against a really athletic team, they’re going to win out in 1v1’s. It’s a lesson for us. That’s why we are playing this tough schedule. We have to play to our abilities and solve the problems that other teams are giving us. We have to adapt and change the rhythm of the game. It’s a learning lesson for our team and we will learn from this. I’m not going to get too high on a win and I’m not going to get too low on a loss. This is just a piece of our season. It sucks. I hate losing, and looking at their faces out there, we hate losing. I talk about how we are going to fight for our joy, and this is one of those moments. You can’t allow this to hurt you too long. You have to fight back for that joy again.”
Creighton’s next chance to regain that joy will come away from home against what could be the toughest opponent the face all year long in preseason No. 21 Saint Louis. The Billikens return three All-Americans and nine starters in total from a team that finished last season with an RPI of 10 and a record of 20-2. CU and SLU will kickoff at 5:00 p.m. central time at Hermann Stadium on Thursday, August 24.