Mizzou’s Second Half Penalty the Difference in SEC Opener

COLUMBIA, Mo.  – In the opening match of the 2018 Southeastern Conference season, the Missouri Tigers scored a second-half penalty in the 51st minute to sneak past the Kentucky Wildcats 1-0 on Thursday night in Columbia.
 
Kentucky’s best scoring opportunity came late in the match on 82 minutes, as senior Tanya Samarzich banged a shot off the left post and it came out into the six, and Yuuka Kurosaki’s rebound was swept off the goalline by Missouri’s back four after the keeper was beat. The Wildcats ended the match with 13 shots and two on goal. Hannah Leonard made six saves on the road in her first SEC start.
 
In the 89th minute, a terrific cross was served in from the left flank by Gretchen Mills, but Samarzich’s finish from the outside of her boot sailed just high from eight years out making a crashing run towards the goal.
 
With the loss, UK falls to 4-5-0 on the season and is 0-1-0 in SEC play, with Thursday marking the conference opener for both teams. Missouri picked up its third win of the season to move to 3-4-1 overall. The Tigers are 1-0-0 in the SEC.
 
The goal scored was a penalty by the Tigers’ Cassidy Nurnberger. It was her first of the season, and scored in the 51st minute after a foul was recorded in the box on the Kentucky defense at the top of the area. The PK was placed well and tucked home for her first goal of the year.
 
UK next plays at Lipscomb on Sunday night. The match will begin at 7 p.m. ET in Nashville and streamed live on the Lipscomb Athletics Facebook Live page.  
 
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s soccer team, follow @UKWomensSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.