UMR pulls out win on Moore's late goal

Rachel Moore

The Lady Miners may have started out sluggish Sunday afternoon, but a strong finish netted them their first victory of the 2007 season.

Rachel Moore scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:17 remaining in the second half to give UMR a 2-1 win over Missouri Western at the UMR Soccer Field. The victory allowed UMR to even its record after it lost its season opener to Ashland Friday night.

Following a scoreless first half -- one where the Griffons had the better of play over the final 15 minutes -- the visitors got on the board after a Lady Miner mistake in the opening minutes of the second half.

UMR was called for a foul for a passback to the goalkeeper and on the ensuing free kick, the ball got to Meigan Soo in a crowd and she put it past Kelsey Kurilla to put the Griffons on top. The goal, however, got the Lady Miners ignited and they tied the score a little over 11 minutes later.

Marci Byrd's shot from the wing caromed off the crossbar, but Janine Einhellig was right there to head it in to knot the score with over 30 minutes remaining.

UMR started to gain control of the tempo and eventually got the game winning tally in the latter minutes.

A Lady Miner free kick was cleared out of the box by the Griffons but right out to Moore, who hammered a shot into the upper right corner to put UMR in front. The Lady Miners, who outshot the Griffons 23-10 in the game and 13-5 in the second half, did not allow Western a scoring chance once they got the lead.

Catherine Swift and Kurilla combined for five saves in the game while the Lady Miners got 13 of their 23 shots on goal.

UMR will play a pair of games over the Labor Day weekend at Drury University in Springfield, starting with a Saturday contest against Oakland City at noon.