COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Mizzou soccer (11-6-1, 6-4-1 SEC) team fell to No. 17 Florida (13-4-0, 8-3-0), 1-0, Thursday night in the regular season finale at Walton Stadium. Missouri pressured the Florida defenders for a majority of the night, earning nine corners and 16 shots, but were ultimately unable to best the Florida defense.
Mizzou had what seemed to be the equalizing goal in the 80th minute off of a corner kick. Senior Erin Webb (Castle Rock, Colo.) sent a corner into the top of the box. Freshman Sarah Luebbert (Jefferson City, Mo.) headed the ball to senior Melanie Donaldson (Florissant, Mo.) at the right post, who headed a shot into the back of the net. However, the Tigers were ruled offside on the play and the goal was negated.
The Tigers controlled play for the first 25 minutes, amassing nine shots to Florida's two. The tigers had multiple chances in the opening half but could not find the back of the net.
In the 24th minute junior Kaitlyn Clark (Liberty, Mo.) sent a cross into the box from the left side. The cross was met by junior Jessica Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.), whose shot on goal resulted in a rebound falling right to the feet of Luebbert. Leubbert's shot beat the Florida keeper but went just wide of the left post, keeping the score knotted at 0-0.
Florida responded with a goal in the 35th minute on a 19-yard half volley to take the 1-0 lead.
The second half was a back and forth affair with Mizzou going on the offensive for the final 20 minutes. Junior Savannah Trujillo (Kansas City, Mo.) had a header bounce go off the crossbar on a corner kick in the 70th minute keeping the Tigers in a one goal deficit.
Sophomore Kelsey Dossey (Plainfield, Ind.) made five saves on the night including a diving stop from a shot in close in the 28th minute.
Mizzou earned the five-seed in next week's SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala. The squad received a first round bye and are poised for a rematch with four-seed Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will be televised live on SEC Network.
