ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Baptist University women's soccer team officially kicked off the 2022 schedule Wednesday evening with a 2-0 shutout victory over Culver-Stockton College. It was a role reversal from last year's meeting between the two teams in which the Wildcats won their season opener on their home turf in an identical 2-0 fashion.
Moving to 1-0 on the year, MBU recorded just its fourth win in a season opener since 2005. It also marked just the second win over Culver-Stockton in seven tries. The Spartans' lone win vs. C-SC before Wednesday came on the road in Canton, Mo., in 2017.
Missouri Baptist scored a goal in each half, with the season's first goal coming in the 33
rd minute (32:01). Junior
Mara George's hard work applying extra pressure off a goal kick paid off when she intercepted a misplayed ball in the box by Culver-Stockton defender Abbey Conner. George made Wildcat goalkeeper Mackenzie Frizzell miss and sent it lower left to notch her eighth career goal.
Throughout the second half, the Spartans put multiple shots on goal but couldn't strike paydirt a second time until the 79
th minute. Although C-SC keeper Mackenzie Frizzell recorded a save on graduate student
Casey Gutting's free kick from just outside the box, it wasn't enough to stop newcomer
Jordyn Besserman, who was perfectly camped out waiting for the deflection. Besserman, a transfer from American Midwest Conference foe University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy, headed the ball in for her first goal as a Spartan. While it served as Besserman's first MBU goal, the midfielder from Troy, Ill., is no stranger to finding the back of the net. Besserman was UHSP's leading scorer the past two seasons, with seven in 2020 and 10 in 2021.
Spartan goalkeeper
Hanna Harrison registered the clean sheet with three saves on the night.
Missouri Baptist is back in action on Saturday, Aug. 27, in Forest City, Iowa, to take on Waldorf University (0-1-1). The Spartans were victorious in last year's first meeting as they grabbed a 2-1 win in the 2021 home opener at Spartan Field.
