COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou soccer continues Southeastern Conference play on the road Thursday, Oct. 15, traveling to Oxford to face Ole Miss at 6 p.m. CT at Ole Miss Soccer Stadium. The match marks the 12th meeting between the programs, with Missouri holding a 6-3-2 edge in the all-time series. The Tigers have had success in the matchup at home, going 5-1 in Columbia and winning the most recent meeting 5-0 on Oct. 10, 2024, while they look to improve their 1-2-2 record on the road against the Rebels.
PRE-MATCH PRESS
-Missouri opens the back half of its SEC schedule at Ole Miss after a demanding first month of league play.
-The Tigers are coming off a resilient defensive showing in a 1-0 home loss to No. 3 Vanderbilt, limiting one of the nation’s top offenses to its quietest output in SEC play.
-Ole Miss comes in winless in SEC play and has struggled to find the net against conference competition.
-Senior goalkeepers Riley Wilkerson (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and Kate Phillips (Fishers, Ind.) have anchored Missouri’s back end, making the Tigers the only SEC team with two keepers who have each started multiple matches and both carry a .722-or-better save percentage.
-Missouri’s attack has been a group effort, with 15 goals shared among seven scorers and four different Tigers already posting a multi-goal game, a total matched only by Vanderbilt in the SEC.
-The Tigers have done their best work after the break, scoring two-thirds of their goals in the second half, where they have held the scoring edge.
-Senior Brianna Buels (Indianapolis, Ind.) owns the fastest goal in program history, scoring 14 seconds into the win at Murray State, and has been the Tigers’ most accurate shooter at 12 of 16 on target.
-Thursday’s match kicks off at 6 p.m. CT at Ole Miss Soccer Stadium and will air on SEC Network, with live stats and in-match updates available at MUTigers.com and on X at @MizzouSoccer.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-Ole Miss enters at 7-7-0 (0-6-0 SEC), winless in league play and riding a six-match conference losing streak after a 1-0 loss at Georgia on Oct. 9.
-The Rebels raced to a 7-1 start in non-conference play but have yet to win in the SEC, where they have managed just one goal across six matches.
-Ole Miss has been shut out in five of its six league games and has been outscored 20-12 on the season behind a 0.86 goals-per-game average.
LAST TIME OUT
-Missouri fell 1-0 to No. 3 Vanderbilt on Friday, Oct. 9, at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.
-The Tigers held one of the nation’s top offenses to a season-low one goal on just three shots, conceding in the 16th minute before shutting the Commodores out without a second-half shot on target.
-Missouri answered early with headers from Buels and Audrey Gilbert (Frisco, Texas) that were turned aside, then recorded eight of its 10 shots after the break.
-Senior Taryn Chance (Stafford, Va.) had the Tigers’ best look, forcing one of four Vanderbilt saves on a bending effort from the edge of the box in the 73rd minute.
THROUGH THE GAUNTLET
-Missouri drew one of the SEC’s toughest opening stretches, facing Oklahoma, Kentucky, Auburn, South Carolina, Arkansas and No. 3 Vanderbilt to begin league play. Every conference team Missouri has played thus far was subsequently ranked in the IWSOC Coaches Poll following the match aside from UK.
-The Tigers earned their first league point in a 1-1 draw at Arkansas, and four of their six SEC matches were decided by two goals or fewer.
-Missouri now turns to the back half of its conference slate, beginning at winless Ole Miss.
FIRST STRIKE
-Missouri is a perfect 3-0-0 this season when it scores the game’s first goal.
-When the opponent strikes first, the Tigers are 0-8-1, with their lone point coming in the draw at Arkansas.
-Their only scoreless match was a 0-0 draw at Western Kentucky.
SECOND-HALF TIGERS
-Ten of Missouri’s 15 goals have come in the second half, where the Tigers have outscored opponents 10-5.
-The Tigers have been outscored 11-5 before the break but have generated more offense late, taking 81 of their 146 shots in second halves.
BY THE NUMBERS
-Missouri ranks second in the SEC in saves per game (3.77).
-The Tigers have climbed to fourth in the SEC in shot accuracy, putting 44.5 percent of their shots on target.
-Missouri has out-cornered its opponents 71-62 on the season.
SPREADING IT AROUND
-Missouri’s 15 goals have come from seven different scorers, with no player netting more than three.
-Rylie Morse (Lebanon, Ohio), Landis Canada (Fenton, Mich.) and Lana Adams (Perryville, Mo.) share the team lead with three apiece, while Buels and Emily Derucki (Wildwood, Mo.) have added two each.
-Buels has been the most accurate of the group, putting 12 of her 16 attempts on target (.750).
-Canada, Adams and Derucki have each recorded a game-winner.
-Four different Tigers have posted a multi-goal game this season, tying Vanderbilt for the most such players in the SEC.
STRENGTH IN GOAL
-Missouri has leaned on an experienced senior tandem in goal, with Wilkerson and Phillips combining for 48 saves through 13 matches.
-Wilkerson leads the team with 26 saves and has started eight matches, including the loss to Vanderbilt.
-Phillips owns a .786 save percentage and holds two of the SEC’s top single-game saves performances, an eight-save effort against Auburn and seven against Saint Louis.
-Missouri is the only SEC team with two goalkeepers who have each started multiple matches and both carry a save percentage of .722 or better.
FRESHMEN FLASHES
-Freshmen have been central to the attack, led by Morse, who has put 13 of her 22 shots on target (.591) and shares the team lead with three goals.
-Morse scored the first two goals of her career on Senior Night against SEMO, a 5-0 win in which Adams added a first-half brace.
-Freshman Petra Bandula (Oakville, Ontario), who was called up to the Croatian U-19 National Team for the U-19 Nations Cup in Slovenia, has also chipped in a goal off the bench.
ANCHORED IN THE BACK
-Center backs Morgan Meador (Ballwin, Mo.) and Mia Yang (Leawood, Kan.) have been fixtures, with Meador starting all 13 matches and Yang 12 across the back line.
-Missouri posted three clean sheets in non-conference play, blanking Western Kentucky, Northern Illinois and SEMO.
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), with the only other run coming across Mizzou’s first five seasons (1996-2000).
-The Tigers set a program record with 15 Missouri natives on the 2025 roster.
HOME COOKING
-Mizzou drew a program-record 2,324 fans to the renovated Audrey J. Walton Stadium in the home opener against Saint Louis, making Missouri one of eight programs nationally to host 2,000-plus fans in at least two home matches.
-The renovation, funded by a gift from Audrey J. Walton (one of the 10 largest in Mizzou Athletics history and the largest ever dedicated to Olympic sports), added a new natural grass playing surface and subsurface improvements.
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