Sunday, November 15
Orange Beach, Ala. (Orange Beach Sportsplex)
7:30 p.m. CT
University of Missouri
vs
Florida (Second Round)
Mizzou Soccer to Open SEC Tournament Against Florida
11/14/2020 7:46:00 AM | Soccer
Fifth-seeded Tigers received first round bye
| Mizzou Enters SEC Tournament Seeded Fifth | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | WATCH | STATS |
| Florida (Second Round) | Orange Beach, Ala. | Sun., Nov. 15 | 7:30 p.m. | SEC Network | TBA |
ON TAP THIS WEEK
- Fifth-seeded Mizzou Soccer (3-2-2) will travel to Orange Beach, Ala. for the SEC Soccer Tournament, which begins this Friday, Nov. 13. The Tigers received a first-round bye thanks to a top 10 finish, and will open play on Sunday, Nov. 15.
- Mizzou will take 13th-seeded Florida, the winner of the first round match against 12th-seeded Kentucky Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (Central), Sunday evening at the Orange Beach Sportsplex. The match will air on SEC Network.
LAST TIME OUT
- Mizzou Soccer once again secured a victory by a margin of three goals as the Tigers dominated Florida for a 5-2 win.
- While the visiting Gators struck first following a goal in the fourth minute, the Tigers responded in a big way by forcing a Florida own goal and adding a pair of braces from senior midfielders Bella Alessi and Cassidy Nurnberger.
- Following the Florida own goal in the eighth minute to level the match at one goal apiece, Alessi contributed with a spectacular individual effort to weave through the Gator defense and score in the 16th minute. Before the first half came to a close, Nurnberger hit a ball off the underside of the crossbar and in to extend Mizzou's lead to 3-1 in the 30th minute.
- The second half allowed Alessi and Nurnberger to complete their braces as Alessi curled in a similar goal to her first in the 62nd minute and Nurnberger sealed the win with a fantastic finish off of a Hannah Joella corner kick in the 70th minute.
- Mizzou's five goals on the day are the most in conference play for the Tigers since defeating Ole Miss 5-0 on Sept. 7, 2016 and the most scored by any SEC team during the 2020 season.
- Mizzou's recent offensive explosion has set records as its nine goals over the past two games stands as the most scored in back-to-back matches since 2009.
SEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- Mizzou will aim to make it to the quarterfinals of the SEC Soccer Tournament for the first time since 2017 and improve upon its 2-7 record in tournament games since joining the conference.
- The Tigers have qualified for the tournament eight of the nine years that they have been conference members.
- Mizzou's best result in the SEC Soccer Tournament came in its first year in the SEC, as the Tigers advanced to the semifinals in 2012.
- In four of Mizzou's seven trips to Orange Beach — including the last three (2016-18) — the Tigers have been eliminated by the eventual champion.
- Mizzou has advanced to the quarterfinals in five out of seven appearances in the tournament.
- Mizzou's fifth seed in the 2020 tournament is the highest since grabbing the five seed in 2016. Mizzou's best seeding came in 2015 as the Tigers were a two seed.
- The Tigers will face the winner of Match 2 on Friday night between No. 12 Kentucky and No. 13 Florida. The Tigers have never played a seed lower than eight and will look for their first win in the SEC Soccer Tournament as the higher-seeded team.
BLITZ IN ELITE COMPANY
- Head coach Bryan Blitz – the only head coach in program history – earned his 250th victory with the Tigers in a 4-1 victory over Kentucky to bring his record at the school to 250-213-38.
- The 2015 SEC Coach of the Year, Blitz is one of four coaches in the SEC to have 250 victories at their current institution.
- Florida's Becky Burleigh, Texas A&M's Gi Guerrieri and South Carolina's Shelley Smith are the only other coaches to reach the milestone, while Auburn's Karen Hoppa (247) is nearing her 250th win with her Tigers.
- Blitz is also fifth amongst his SEC colleagues in career wins with 296, trailing Smith (301), Hoppa (311), Guerrieri (478) and Burleigh (508).
TIGERS RIDING A STREAK
- Mizzou is currently on a four-match unbeaten streak to pick up eight points in the SEC race.
- The Tigers picked up 1-1 draws against LSU (Oct. 16) and Mississippi State (Oct. 24) before grabbing three points in a 4-1 win over Kentucky (Nov. 1). Mizzou closed out the season with a 5-2 victory over Florida (Nov. 8).
- The four-match unbeaten streak is the longest streak for Mizzou in conference play since 2016, when the Tigers picked up seven points against Texas A&M (T, 1-1), Alabama (W, 2-0) and Vanderbilt (W, 2-1), from Oct. 6-14.
- A win on Sunday would match the longest unbeaten streak for Mizzou since opening the 2019 season with five-straight wins.
A BALANCED ATTACK YIELDS RESULTS
- Mizzou has established a balanced offensive attack throughout the season, and it ranks in the top 10 nationally in several categories.
- Nine different Tigers have scored a goal on the season, with Macy Trujillo, Cassidy Nurnberger and Bella Alessi being the only players with multiple goals. Nine players have also logged an assist for Mizzou, bring the total point scorers to 11.
- The 12 different point scorers are tied for third in the conference (Florida and Vanderbilt), and trails only South Carolina (13).
- Six Tigers have both a goal and an assist on the season, tied for second in the league with Arkansas.
- Nationally, Mizzou is ranked fifth in shots per game (16.71), tied for fifth in goals per game (2.14) and seventh in points per game (5.71).
- In the conference, the Tigers are ranked third in points per game (4.50) and second in goals per game (2.14).
- Mizzou's 2.14 goals per game is its highest on a season since averaging 2.59 in the 2009 season — scoring 57 goals in 22 games.
BOUNCE-BACK SEASON
- A year after missing the SEC Soccer Tournament for the first time in program history, Mizzou is featuring a bounce-back season in 2020.
- Despite all of the league's 14 teams receiving a bid to the conference tournament, the Tigers left little to chance this year.
- With a 3-2-2 record, Mizzou claimed the fifth seed in the conference tournament thanks to wins over Kentucky and Florida in the final two weeks of the regular season — the win over the Gators propelling the Tigers from ninth in the standings up to fifth. A loss by Auburn in the SEC season finale on Monday solidified Mizzou's position.
- The fifth seed is the highest the Tigers have finished since ending the 2016 season fifth in the Southeastern conference. Mizzou reached the NCAA Tournament that season as well.
- A 3-2-0 record in divisional play places Mizzou third in the SEC East standings, as well.
- The Tigers also finished the regular season with a +5 goal differential — their best since posting a +12 goal differential in 2016.
CISNEROS NAMED ALL-SEC
- Junior forward Julissa Cisneros was named to the All-SEC Second Team on Nov. 12 to earn the first all-conference honors of her career.
- Cisneros did land on the all-freshman team in 2018.
- Despite seeing a decrease in her scoring — four points (one goal, two assists) — during her junior season, Cisneros has been indispensable to Mizzou's attack.
- Often facing double teams, Cisneros has helped create chances for her teammates — allowing Mizzou to rank higher in the conference in every offensive category compared to a year ago.
- The Moreno Valley, Calif., native is currently on a six-match scoring drought. She had an eight-match scoring drought in the middle of the 2019 season, before erupting for six goals in Mizzou's final five matches.
WORTH'S AWARD-WINNING DEBUT
- Freshman Sophia Worth made the most of her collegiate debut on Nov. 8 against Florida, winning SEC Freshman of the Week after picking up the win over the Gators.
- Despite entering the week as Mizzou's third-string goalkeeper, Worth was thrust into action after McKenna Sheehan exited the match in the 10th minute.
- Worth allowed only one goal in 80:10 between the sticks, making eight saves against 14 shots to guide Mizzou to only its third-ever win against Florida.
- The eight saves are the most by a Tiger this season, while the 14 shots are the third-most seen by a Mizzou keeper in 2020.
- Worth is the first freshman since Julissa Cisneros (Oct. 7, 2018) to win the honor.
Players Mentioned
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