CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Mizzou soccer team notched goals in each half to post an impressive 2-1 exhibition win over No. 4 North Carolina Friday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C. Senior Taylor Grant and sophomore Rachel Hignett each scored for the Tigers, who officially open the 2014 campaign on Aug. 22.
North Carolina pressured the Mizzou defense early but backline stood strong and kept the Tarheels from getting a shot on goal.
In the 36th minute, the Tigers struck first as sophomore Rachel Hignett made the Tarheels pay for a defensive miscue. The Llandough, Wales, native, intercepted a North Carolina clear and neatly one-timed a shot over the keeper and into the left-side netting for a 1-0 Tiger advantage.
Tarheel Maya Worth almost put North Carolina on the board as she gathered the ball just past midfield and had a breakaway toward goal. Redshirt senior goalkeeper McKenzie Sauerwein stood her ground and stopped the point-blank shot to keep the home team out of the net.
Sophomore goalie Kristen Rivers, who entered at the start of the second half, made her first save in the 58th minute. The keeper came off her line to cut off Amber Munerlyn's angle and tipped the shot away.
North Carolina broke through to knot the match at 1-1 in the 64th minute following a nice run into the box from Alex Kimbell.
The Tigers responded four minutes later with nice give-and-go from Mizzou's forwards. Freshman Jessica Johnson gathered a bad Tarheel pass and played the ball off to Grant, who had made a run into the 18. Grant turned toward the front of the goal and poked a right-footed shot under North Carolina's keeper for the eventual game-winner.
The Tarheels mounted a comeback in the final 20 minutes but Missouri's defense held firm. In the 73rd minute, Rivers made sprawled out for a diving save to keep the Tigers ahead.
With nine minutes left in regulation, freshman Savannah Trujillo received the ball in the Tigers' offensive third and sprinted toward goal. She put the ball on her right foot and unleashed a shot toward net, but the Tarheel defense recovered to knock out for a corner.
Mizzou officially opens the 2014 season at the Penn State Invitational next weekend. The Tigers face Syracuse on Friday, Aug. 22 at 4 p.m. CT, then face West Virginia on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 11 a.m. CT.