The Missouri Reign won their inaugural home match with a 1-0 clean sheet victory over Side FC 92. 

Halfway through the second half, Danielle Buker broke the tie off a corner kick from the left side. This marked the second time the Reign have scored first in conference play, with the other opening goal coming from Buker. 

Buker already has two goals on the season, sharing that honor with Zoe Lockhert. However, Buker is the only player with multiple goals during conference play.

“I’m super glad that we got [this] one,” Buker said after the match. “It was definitely a team effort. I’m so proud of our team.

Side FC 92 started strong with three early corner kicks in the first eight minutes. The Reign turned away all opportunities, including a leaping save from Vic Heus in the 20th minute. Heus came up big late in the first half, saving a penalty kick after it rang off the left post.

The German native racked up several saves, including one during the waning minutes of extra time. Heus helped the Reign maintain their first clean sheet of the conference season. 

“They were a good team but I thought we played well that second half,” Heus said after the match.

Missouri improves to 1-0 at home as a member of the Reign organization. There was an estimated attendance of 125 fans for the Reign’s opening match during a busy Saturday in June.

The 3 points has the Reign tied for third place in the Heartland Division in terms of points. The Missouri Reign will be back in action with a pair of games on Thursday, June 6 back at R Marvin Owens Stadium at Columbia College. First with the supplemental schedule is a match against Saint Louis Scott Gallagher at 4 p.m. Later in the evening the Reign take on Lou Fuz in a non-conference match at 7 p. m.

Phot taken by Nathan Porter