Two soccer players compete on a field at night, one in a black Missouri jersey with number 29 controlling the ball while another in a white Ole Miss jersey with number 22 attempts to defend.Two soccer players compete on a field at night, one in a black Missouri jersey with number 29 controlling the ball while another in a white Ole Miss jersey with number 22 attempts to defend.
Soccer

Soccer Continues Road Trip at Georgia on Sunday

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou soccer continues its Southeastern Conference road trip on Sunday, Oct. 18, traveling to Athens to face Georgia at 4 p.m. CT at Turner Soccer Complex. The match marks the 12th meeting between the programs, with the teams splitting the results in the all-time series. The Tigers have had success in the matchup on the road, going 3-1-1 in the Classic City, but have played there just twice since the 2017 season.

PRE-MATCH PRESS
-Missouri arrives at Georgia on the heels of its first SEC win of the season, a 3-0 shutout at Ole Miss.
-The Tigers’ 3-0 result at Ole Miss marked the largest win in a conference road match since Sept. 9, 2016, which also came in Oxford against the Rebels.
-Georgia sits 5-4-5 (2-2-3 SEC) and has been much stronger at home, going 4-2-1 at Turner Soccer Complex.
-Senior goalkeepers Riley Wilkerson (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and Kate Phillips (Fishers, Ind.) give Missouri one of the SEC’s top save rates and the league’s only goalkeeping tandem to each start multiple matches while both posting a .722-or-better save percentage.
-Missouri’s attack has been a group effort, with 18 goals from seven different scorers and four Tigers already posting a multi-goal game, a total matched only by Vanderbilt in the SEC.
-Freshmen have powered the attack, with Lana Adams (Perryville, Mo.) leading the team in goals and Rylie Morse (Lebanon, Ohio) pacing it in assists.
-The Tigers have done their best work after the break, scoring two-thirds of their goals in the second half, where they have held a clear scoring edge.
-Senior Brianna Buels (Indianapolis, Ind.) owns the fastest goal in program history, 14 seconds into the win at Murray State, and has been the Tigers’ most accurate shooter at 14 of 19 on target.
-Sunday’s match kicks off at 4 p.m. CT at Turner Soccer Complex 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
-Georgia enters at 5-4-5 (2-2-3 SEC), sitting in the middle of the league table, and is coming off a 3-0 loss at Alabama on Oct. 15.
-The Bulldogs have been far stronger at home, going 4-2-1 at Turner Soccer Complex compared to 1-2-4 on the road.
-Georgia’s balanced attack has produced 23 goals, led by Honoka Hamano with four and Emma Pettersen, who tops the team with nine points on three goals and three assists.
-Senior goalkeeper Jordan Brown has anchored the back line with a .744 save percentage across 12 starts.

LAST TIME OUT
-Missouri picked up three points with a 3-0 victory over the Rebels on Thursday, Oct. 15, at Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
-Emily Derucki (Wildwood, Mo.) opened the scoring in the 28th minute off an Adams assist, and Missouri pulled away after halftime on second-half goals from Buels and Adams, both set up by Morse.
-Wilkerson made three saves to earn the clean sheet, Missouri’s first shutout in SEC play this season.
-The Tigers controlled the match, outshooting Ole Miss 15-10 and holding a 7-0 edge in corner kicks while limiting the Rebels to three shots on goal.
-The three-goal margin was Missouri’s first road conference win by three or more goals since a 5-0 victory, also at Ole Miss, on Sept. 9, 2016.

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.
-Each of those six opponents except Kentucky was subsequently ranked in the IWSOC Coaches Poll following the match.
-After picking up its first league point in a 1-1 draw at Arkansas, Missouri broke through for its first SEC win with a 3-0 shutout at Ole Miss.

FIRST STRIKE
-Missouri is a perfect 4-0-0 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
-Twelve of Missouri’s 18 goals have come in the second half, where the Tigers have outscored opponents 12-5.
-The Tigers have been outscored 11-6 before the break but have generated more offense late, taking 91 of their 161 shots in second halves.

BY THE NUMBERS
-Missouri ranks third in the SEC in saves per game (3.71).
-The Tigers rank sixth in the SEC in shot accuracy, putting 44.1 percent of their shots on target.
-Missouri has out-cornered its opponents 78-62 on the season, including a 7-0 edge at Ole Miss.

SPREADING IT AROUND
-Missouri’s 18 goals have come from seven different scorers.
-Adams leads the team with four goals, while Morse, Landis Canada (Fenton, Mich.), Buels and Derucki have three apiece.
-Buels has been the most accurate of the group, putting 14 of her 19 attempts on target (.737).
-Derucki leads the team with two game-winners, and Canada and Adams have each added one.
-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 51 saves through 14 matches.
-Wilkerson leads the team with 29 saves and earned a three-save shutout at Ole Miss, her second clean sheet of the season.
-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 three goals and a team-high three assists, including two helpers in the win at Ole Miss.
-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) 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 14 matches and Yang 13 across the back line.
-Missouri has recorded four shutouts, including its first in SEC play in the win at Ole Miss, after blanking Western Kentucky, Northern Illinois and SEMO in non-conference play.

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.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest on Mizzou soccer, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.