COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Soccer will open the 2020 season this Sunday, Sept. 27, at South Carolina. Kickoff at Stone Stadium will be at 3 p.m. (Central), with the match being aired nationally on ESPNU. 

ON TAP THIS WEEKEND

• The Gamecocks are coming off an opening loss to Georgia during week one, following 1-0 on a goal from Abby Boylan in the 63rd minute.  

• It was the first loss to the Bulldogs for South Carolina since 2014. 

• The Gamecocks reached the quarterfinal of the NCAA Tournament last season en route to a 19-2-3 record, with four players being named All-Southeast Region. Half of those players return in 2020. 

DELAYED KICKOFF

• Mizzou will kick off the season this Sunday at South Carolina after its original season opener was postponed due to COVID-19.  

• The Tigers' opponent, Florida, had three positive cases and the subsequent quarantines left the Gators with too few players to compete. 

• Both programs will work to reschedule the match for a later date. 

SUCCESS IN SEC OPENERS

• With the SEC shifting to a conference-only schedule, this weekend's match serves as both the season opener and league opener.  

• In Mizzou's eight seasons as conference members, the program has never lost an SEC opener.  

• Since joining the league in 2012, the Tigers are 7-0-1 in league openers, with the lone draw coming last season on the road at Ole Miss (Sept. 20).  

• In SEC openers, Mizzou has posted a goal differential of +15 (20-5). 

BLITZ-ING TOWARDS ANOTHER MILESTONE

• Mizzou head coach Bryan Blitz, the lone head coach in program history, is nearing 250 wins in his career roaming the sidelines in Mid-Missouri.  

• The 2015 SEC Coach of the Year, Blitz owns a record of 248-211-36 at Mizzou.  

• Florida's Becky Burleigh (425), Texas A&M's G Guerrieri (456) and South Carolina's Shelley Smith (254) are the only coaches in the league to win 250 games at their current institution.  

• Auburn's Karen Hoppa is approaching the milestone with 244 wins with her program. 

CISNEROS LOOKS TO RIDE HOT FOOT

• Junior Julissa Cisneros put together one of the most dominant sophomore campaigns in Mizzou history in 2019. 

• The Moreno Valley, Calif.-native led the Tigers with 11 goals and 23 points.  

• Her 11 goals are tied for the ninth-highest single season total in program history. 

• She makes up 61-percent of Mizzou's returning scoring from last season, with Macy Trujillo and Bella Alessi being the only other returners with multi-goals scored in 2019. 

• Cisneros' 16 goals through her sophomore season is the seventh-highest total for any Tiger through their sophomore season.  

                1. Nikki Thole- 28 (1997-98) 

                2. Alysha Bonnick- 22 (2007-08) 

                     Adriene Davis- 22 (2001-02) 

                4. Kristin Andrighetto- 20 (2006-07) 

                5. Melissa Peabody- 18 (2001-02) 

                6. Sarah Luebbert- 17 (2016-17) 

                7. Julissa Cisneros- 16 (2018-19) 

• Cisneros has scored in her last five games dating back to last season's win over Tennessee (Oct. 13). That is the longest streak of games with a goal since Kristin Andrighetto scored in four-straight games (Sept. 22, 2007 - Sept. 30, 2007). 

EXPERIENCE IN GOAL

• Entering 2019, Mizzou returned no goalkeepers who saw game action in the net.  

• The inexperience was compounded by Mizzou going to its third-string keeper due to medical issues to Peyton Bauman and McKenna Sheehan.  

• In 2020, the Tigers enter the season with a combined 19 games of collegiate experience between the trio of Sheehan, Isabella Alessio and Gillian Schulte. 

• Sheehan made four appearances in 2019 before missing the remainder of the season with a non-athletic medical issue. 

• Schulte, a walk-on who joined the program in the spring of 2019 as the third string keeper, started the final four games of the season. 

• Alessio joined the program this summer as a transfer from South Dakota. The Chicago, Ill.-native started nine games for the Coyotes as a freshman. Her 1.17 GAA ranked fifth on the South Dakota single-season record book. 

FOUR NAMED TO SEC PRESEASON WATCH LIST

• Four Tigers were named to the SEC Preseason Watch List for this fall.  

• Defender Momola Adesanmi, forward Julissa Cisneros and midfielders Cassidy Nurnberger and Lindsey Whitmore were nominated by Mizzou to be placed on the watch list.  

• In lieu of an all-preseason team voted on by coaches, the SEC accepts nominations from each institution to be named to the preseason list. 

MIZZOU PICKED AS THE UNDERDOG

• Mizzou was predicted to finish 12th in the Southeastern Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, ahead of LSU and Kentucky, respectively.  

• Arkansas was predicted to win the league, followed by South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Florida to round out the top five. 

For all the latest on Mizzou Soccer, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @MizzouSoccer.