COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri soccer fell to Kentucky, 2-1, in its Southeastern Conference home opener Friday night at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.

The Tigers (3-5-1, 0-2-0 SEC) outshot the Wildcats (6-3-0, 2-0-0 SEC), 8-5, in a physical matchup that produced 30 fouls and three yellow cards.

“At the end of the day, Kentucky capitalized off of two mistakes on our part and we didn’t do enough to find the back of the net enough times to comes away with a result,” head coach Stefanie Golan said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to come out on the front foot and not wait for something to come our way before putting our foot on the gas.”

Kentucky opened the scoring in the 11th minute and carried a 1-0 lead into halftime. Missouri pushed back after the break, with freshman Rylie Morse (Lebanon, Ohio) forcing a save from the Kentucky goalkeeper in the 59th minute.

The Wildcats doubled their lead in the 76th minute before Morse pulled the Tigers within one in the 88th, converting a free kick from outside the box that found the bottom-right corner for her third goal of the season.

Missouri nearly drew even in the 90th minute, when the Tigers challenged for a handball in the box after a ball played toward goal appeared to strike a Kentucky defender in front of the net. The no-call was upheld following a video review, and the Wildcats held on for the 2-1 win.

UP NEXT
Missouri hosts Auburn at Audrey J. Walton Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. The match, featuring a "Pups on the Pitch" theme, will be broadcast live on SEC Network.

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