COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou soccer returns to Audrey J. Walton Stadium for its third home match of the year and Senior Night as it hosts Southeast Missouri State on Friday, Sept. 4, at 5 p.m. This marks the sixth meeting between the programs, with the Tigers holding a 4-0-1 all-time edge and a 15-1 scoring advantage, most recently a 5-0 win in 2024.
PRE-MATCH PRESS
-Missouri returns home after a 1-0 loss at Creighton on Sunday dropped it to 2-3-1, a match the Tigers controlled with a 21-7 edge in shots and an 11-6 advantage in corner kicks.
-Friday is Senior Night, when Missouri will honor its 11-member senior class.
-Southeast Missouri State enters at 1-2-1 under second-year head coach John Klein, the winningest soccer coach in Columbia College history, most recently falling 1-2 at North Alabama on Aug. 30.
-The Redhawks, an Ohio Valley Conference program coming off a 2-15-2 finish in 2025, held Missouri State to a scoreless draw on Aug. 27.
-The match also serves as the program’s final contest ahead of conference action.
-Mizzou welcomed a program-record 2,324 in its first match at the newly renovated Audrey J. Walton Stadium in the team’s home opener against Saint Louis on Aug. 20.
-Brianna Buels (Indianapolis, Ind.) needed only seconds to strike and open the match 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.
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 season opener against Saint Louis.
-These crowds haven’t just ranked among the top in program history, but nationally as well. Missouri is one five programs in the country to host 2,000+ fans in at least two home matches in the 2026 season (Michigan State, South Carolina, Tennessee, BYU).
-The renovation, possible from 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
-Southeast Missouri State enters at 1-2-1 in 2026, most recently dropping a 1-2 decision at North Alabama on Aug. 30.
-The Redhawks are led by second-year head coach John Klein, the winningest coach at Columbia College in both its men’s and women’s teams, leading the soccer programs for 25 and 13 seasons, respectively.
-SEMO is coming off a 2-15-2 (2-5-2 OVC) finish in 2025, Klein’s first season at the helm.
-The Redhawks held Missouri State to a scoreless draw on Aug. 27.
LAST TIME OUT
-Missouri dropped its final non-conference road match of the season, falling 1-0 at Creighton on Sunday, Aug. 30, at Morrison Stadium despite a commanding 21-7 edge in shots and an 11-6 advantage in corner kicks.
-Junior Landis Canada (Fenton, Mich.) led all players with five shots as the Tigers controlled the run of play, but Creighton broke through in the 32nd minute for the match’s only goal.
-Riley Wilkerson (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) made four saves to keep the Tigers within one, with MU pressing in the closing minutes but was unable to find an equalizer.
SENIOR SENDOFF
-Missouri will honor 11 seniors prior to Friday’s Senior Night match against Southeast Missouri State at Audrey J. Walton Stadium: Kate Phillips (Indianapolis, Ind.), Buels, Mia Yang (Leawood, Kan.), Olivia Chianelli (Arlington Heights, Ill.), Shania Spriggs (Loganville, Ga.), Autumn Jackson (O’Fallon, Mo.), Morgan Schaefer (Bentonville, Ark.), Wilkerson, Morgan Meador (Ballwin, Mo.), Monica Brauner (Kansas City, Mo.) and Micahela Hill (Palm Harbor, Fla.).
-The 11-player class has anchored the Black and Gold over the past several seasons, combining for 294 career appearances.
-The group touches every line: goalkeepers Phillips and Wilkerson, center backs Yang and Meador, and forward Buels, whose 14-second strike at Murray State this season was the fastest goal in program history.
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 Yang 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 Tigers 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 Tigers return that experience and a defensive foundation that kept them in matches all 2025.
-The continuity has shown early. Through the first six matches, Missouri held a 78-45 edge in total shots and a 35-26 advantage in shots on goal while allowing less than a goal per game.
STINGY IN THE BACKFIELD
-Defense was Missouri’s calling card in 2025: the Tigers dropped just two matches by three or more goals all season.
-The Tigers have allowed just four goals in 2026, blanking Western Kentucky and NIU and have conceded one at Murray State, Missouri State and Creighton and against Saint Louis.
-Center backs Yang and Meador, 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.
-Phillips, 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.
-Wilkerson, who closed 2025 with 13 saves across back-to-back shutout draws, has earned the win at Murray State and blanked Northern Illinois with a season-high four saves.
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 Tigers set a program record with 15 Missouri natives on the 2025 roster.
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