COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou soccer stays home at Audrey J. Walton Stadium for a second straight Southeastern Conference match in Columbia as it plays host to Auburn on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. This will mark the 12th meeting between the programs, with Missouri holding a 5-4-2 edge in the all-time series after the sides played to a 1-1 draw in last season’s regular-season finale on the Plains.
PRE-MATCH PRESS
-Missouri continues its conference schedule against Auburn, playing its second straight SEC home match in Columbia.
-The meeting is the 12th all-time between the programs, with Missouri holding a 5-4-2 edge in the series after playing Auburn to a 1-1 draw on the Plains to close last year’s regular season.
-Brianna Buels (Indianapolis, Ind.) needed only seconds to strike against Murray State, scoring in a program-record 14 seconds. She finished with two goals, the second coming in the 67th minute.
-Emily Derucki (Wildwood, Mo.) was credited with her first game-winning goal in the team’s win against the Racers, putting Mizzou up 2-1 in the 50th minute, her third time finding the back of the net in her collegiate career.
-Rylie Morse (Lebanon, Ohio) notched the first two goals of her career on Senior Night, as the freshman found the net in the 15th and 65th minutes of Missouri’s 5-0 win over SEMO.
-Freshman Lana Adams (Perryville, Mo.) set the tone with a pair of first-half goals against the Redhawks, striking in the 11th and 23rd minutes to record her first multi-goal game and pull even with Landis Canada (Fenton, Mich.) for the team lead at three goals.
-Thursday’s match is set for 6 p.m. at Audrey J. Walton Stadium, features a “Pups on the Pitch” promotion and will air on SEC Network+, with live stats and in-match updates available at MUTigers.com and on X at @MizzouSoccer.
HOME COOKING
-Mizzou welcomed a total of 4,393 fans to the newly renovated Walton Stadium in its first two home matches of the season, including a program-record 2,324 attendees in the home opener against Saint Louis.
-Those crowds rank nationally, too: Missouri is one of eight programs in the country to host 2,000-plus fans in at least two home matches in 2026.
-The renovation, made possible by Audrey J. Walton’s donation, which marked one of the largest in Mizzou Athletics history and the largest ever dedicated to Olympic sports, funded a new natural grass playing surface and subsurface improvements.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-Auburn enters at 5-1-3 (1-1-0 SEC), unbeaten in eight of nine matches with its lone loss a 1-0 home decision to Alabama on Sept. 11, and is coming off a 3-0 win over Ole Miss on Sept. 18.
-Defense is Auburn’s calling card: AU has allowed just two goals all season and leads the SEC in both team goals-against average (0.22) and save percentage (.882).
-Sophomore goalkeeper Ayana Yapo anchors it, pacing the conference individually in GAA (0.23) and save percentage (.867) with six solo shutouts.
-The attack is balanced rather than star-driven, led by senior forward Dylan Driver (three goals, eight points), sophomore Ava Caldwell (two goals, team-high three assists) and junior Kennedy Husbands (team-high 29 shots). Driver scored Auburn’s goal in last year’s 1-1 draw with Missouri.
-Second-year head coach James Armstrong, who won the 2024 SEC Championship at Mississippi State before returning to the Plains, has Auburn off to one of the program’s better starts.
LAST TIME OUT
-Missouri dropped its SEC home opener 2-1 to Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 18, at Audrey J. Walton Stadium, falling to 3-5-1 (0-2-0 SEC).
-The Tigers outshot the Wildcats 8-5 in a physical match but were undone by a pair of Kentucky strikes, in the 11th and 76th minutes.
-Morse pulled Missouri within one in the 88th minute, curling a free kick from outside the box into the bottom-right corner for her third goal of the season.
-Missouri nearly drew even in the 90th minute, but a handball appeal in the box was waved off and upheld following a video review as Kentucky held on.
BY THE NUMBERS
-Missouri remains among the national leaders in corner kicks, averaging 6.78 per game to rank 36th nationally and seventh in the SEC.
-The Black & Gold rank second in the SEC in save percentage (.775).
-Missouri sits in the top half of the SEC in shot accuracy, putting 45.9 percent of its shots on target, good for seventh.
-Morse, Canada and Adams share the team lead with three goals apiece, with Canada and Adams each recording a game-winner.
THE CORE IS BACK
-Missouri returns the bulk of its 2025 roster, a young group that logged heavy minutes a season ago and comes back a year older.
-Buels, Canada and Mia Yang (Leawood, Kan.) were named to the 2026 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist, with all three earning their second straight watchlist nod after first being honored a season ago.
-The Black & Gold return at least 10 starters from a season ago, marking just the fourth time in program history Missouri has brought back double-digit starters, with all three previous teams reaching the NCAA Tournament.
TURNING THE PAGE
-Missouri opened a new season looking to build on the flashes it showed in 2025, when the Tigers pushed several ranked opponents and closed the year with back-to-back shutouts.
-Mizzou’s signature result came in its SEC opener: a 3-1 win over Texas, the program’s first multi-goal SEC-opening victory since 2017.
-The Black & Gold return that experience and a defensive foundation that kept them in matches all of 2025.
-The continuity has shown early. Through nine matches, Missouri holds a 109-64 edge in total shots and a 50-40 advantage in shots on goal.
STINGY IN THE BACKFIELD
-Defense was Missouri’s calling card in 2025: it dropped just two matches by three or more goals all season and have lost by more than a goal just once in 2026.
-MU has allowed just nine goals in 2026, holding their opponents to one or fewer scores in seven of nine matches this season.
-Missouri recorded clean sheets against Western Kentucky, Northern Illinois and SEMO and held Murray State, Saint Louis, Missouri State and Creighton to a single goal apiece; only Oklahoma (three) and Kentucky (two) have scored multiple times.
-Center backs Yang and Morgan Meador (Ballwin, Mo.), who played all but three minutes together in 2025, return to anchor the back line.
STRENGTH IN GOAL
-Missouri has leaned on an experienced, proven tandem in goal, with seniors Phillips and Wilkerson splitting starts to open 2026.
-Kate Phillips (Fishers, Ind.), who ranked among the top five in the SEC in total saves a season ago, opened the year with her seventh career shutout in a scoreless draw at Western Kentucky and turned in a seven-save effort against Saint Louis.
-Riley Wilkerson (San Luis Obispo, Calif.), who closed 2025 with 13 saves across back-to-back shutout draws, earned the win at Murray State and blanked Northern Illinois with four saves, and leads the team with 20 saves this fall.
SHOW-ME STATE
-Missouri's 2026 roster features 10 in-state players, continuing one of the most home-grown stretches in program history.
-It marks just the second time the program has carried 10 or more Missourians in three or more consecutive seasons (2024–26); the only other run came across Mizzou's first five seasons (1996–2000).
-The set a program record with 15 Missouri natives on the 2025 roster.
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