Mizzou soccer welcomes Illinois as it returns home on Thursday, September 4, at 5 p.m. at Audrey J. Walton Stadium. The contest will be live streamed on SEC Network+.
PREGAME PRESS
-Missouri enters its sixth contest of the 2025 season after a 2-0 win at Missouri State on Sunday.
-Olivia Chianelli recorded her first goal of the season to break the 0-0 tie between the Tigers and the Bears in the 80th minute against Missouri State.
-Just under three minutes later, Ava Vetter scored for the second time this season off a right-footed shot, assisted by McKenna Moran, her second of the year.
-Mia Yang scored her first career goal in the team's game at No. 15 Memphis on Thursday in the 41st minute to tie the score at 1-1. She was assisted by Landis Canada, who recorded her the second of her career.
-Mia Devrouax scored the first goal of her collegiate career during the 82nd minute against Youngstown State on Wednesday, August 20.
-Kate Phillips ranks tied for fourth in the Southeastern Conference in saves with 14. Her average of 2.80 per contest ranks fifth in the league.
-Senior Hailey Chambliss recorded her first goal in the Black & Gold in the 79th minute versus Youngstown State and followed it up with a second just 48 seconds later, marking the first multi-goal game by a Tiger since Leah Selm tallied two against Oklahoma on October 18, 2024.
-Missouri added 11 shots in the second period against YSU to close the game in a total of 20, the most recorded in a game since posting 26 against SEMO on September 9, 2024.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
-Mizzou leads the series, 7-5-3, including 4-3-2 at home.
-This marks the fifth-straight season the programs have met, with most recent meeting seeing the teams finish in a 1-1 draw in Champaign, Illinois on August 22, 2024.
-Missouri is 2-1 in its last three home matches against Illinois.
TAKING THE PITCH
-Missouri enters its 30th season of competition in 2025.
-Missouri will play host to nine games in 2025, including five Southeastern Conference matches. Five of the team's nine home games will come in September.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-Illinois enters the game against Mizzou with a 5-0 record, most recently topping Kentucky on Sunday, 2-1.
-The Fighting Illini also topped Boston College at home, 1-0, on Monday, August 25.
-Illinois was picked to finish 15th in the Big Ten by the league's coaches heading into the season. Izzy Lee, Sarah Foley and Emma Yee, were all tabbed to the conference's Players to Watch list.
-Illinois returns 13 student-athletes from its 2024 team, which finished 8-8-2. The team did not make its conference tournament.
LAST TIME OUT
-Missouri earned a 2-0 road win at Missouri State behind goals from Chianelli (81') and Vetter (84').
-The result marked the Tigers' first road win of the year.
-Chianelli scored her first goal of the season, while Vetter tallied her second of the year.
-Moran assisted on Vetter's late strike.
-Goalkeeper Phillips posted her second shutout of the season and fourth of her career, finishing with two saves.
-Mizzou outshot Missouri State 16-7 overall and 10-2 in shots on goal, while also holding a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.
TIGERS TAKEOVER PENGUINS
- Canada scored her first goal of the season in the 20th minute.
-Brianna Buels added her first goal of the year and the fifth of her career in the 25th minute.
-Chambliss netted her first two goals at Mizzou in the 79th and 80th minutes, marking the first multi-goal game by a Tiger since 2024.
-Devrouax recorded the first goal of her career in the 81st minute, while Ava Lamothe picked up her first collegiate assist.
-Phillips' four saves marks the most by a goalie in season opener since August 17, 2018, where Mizzou goalkeeper Mercedes Sapp posted seven in a double overtime tie against Iowa.
CHAMBLIS' NEW SUPPORT SYSTEM
-Chamblis scored her first goals as a Tiger against Youngstown State.
-She redshirted in the 2024 season due to the birth of her daughter, Oakley.
-The junior returned to the team for the spring exhibitions. Her two goals ranks tied as the second-most scored in a single game in the conference this season.
ROSTER RUNDOWN
-Senior midfielder Keegan Good is the top returning scorer after netting three goals in 2024.
-The Tigers return eight individuals who contributed multiple points in a single game last season - Brianna Buels (vs. SEMO on 09/08/24), Bella Carrillo (vs. SEMO on 09/08/24), Monica Brauner (vs. SEMO on 09/08/24), Jessica Larson (vs. Ole Miss on 10/10/24), Derucki (vs. Ole Miss on 10/10/24), Landis Canada (at Miami on 08/29/24), Good and Olivia Chianelli (vs. Florida on 09/29/24).
-Junior Phillips recorded two games of seven or more saves in 2024 - against Texas A&M on September 19, 2024 (7) and versus Florida on September 29, 2024 (9).
WATCH LIST SZN
-Buels, Canada, Derucki, Good, Morgan Meador and Mia Yang were all named to the 2025 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist.
-Good notched her second recognition on the list while the other five Tigers are first-time honorees.
PURSUING GOOD DREAMS
-Good leads all returning Tigers with three goals in 2024 while preparing for medical school.
-Over the summer, Good played for Rochester FC in the USL W League while interning at the Mayo Clinic on Dr. Rafael Sierra's orthopedic research team.
-The rising senior split her spring between anchoring Mizzou's midfield and studying for the MCAT while taking advanced science courses.
-Good hopes to follow in her father's medical footsteps, with interests in art, science, and a potential career in plastic surgery.
SIDELINE STAFF
-Golan made two staff additions this offseason, bringing in associate head coach Renee Horton from West Georgia and Austen Parker from North Texas to coach goalkeepers.
-Horton joins Mizzou Soccer as associate head coach after serving in the same role at West Georgia, with prior stops at Georgia, USC, Xavier, Lander and South Florida.
-Horton has guided teams to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, a Big East title, and coached All-Americans and conference award winners.
-Parker joins Mizzou after one season at North Texas, with previous coaching stops at Central Oklahoma, Southwestern Christian and in Oklahoma club soccer.
-Former NAIA All-American at Mid-America Christian, Parker led his team to a 20-3-1 record and the 2019 NCCAA National Championship while setting single-season program records in wins, shutouts and goals-against average.
FACILITY FACELIFT
-The University of Missouri Department of Athletics received a generous philanthropic gift from Audrey J. Walton to fund enhancements to Mizzou's Audrey J. Walton Track and Field and Soccer Stadium, it was announced on Jan. 29, 2025.
-Walton's gift is one of the 10 largest in Mizzou Athletics history and the largest ever dedicated to support Olympic sports.
-The facility has carried Walton's name since it opened in 1996 and has served as a cornerstone for Mizzou Athletics, hosting countless events for track & field and women's soccer.
-The project includes a new natural grass soccer playing field and field subsurface improvements.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
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