Mizzou soccer heads back to Audrey J. Walton Stadium on Friday with a Senior Night matchup against Southeast Missouri State, set for 5 p.m. in Columbia, Mo.
The Tigers will honor 11 seniors before the match, a group that has helped define the program across the past several seasons. That class has piled up 294 career appearances, and it includes players across every line: goalkeepers Kate Phillips and Riley Wilkerson, center backs Mia Yang and Morgan Meador, and forward Brianna Buels, who owns the fastest goal in program history after scoring in 14 seconds at Murray State this season.
Missouri enters the night at 2-3-1 after a 1-0 loss at Creighton on Sunday. The result came despite a strong territorial showing, with the Tigers finishing with a 21-7 advantage in shots and an 11-6 edge in corner kicks. Junior Landis Canada led all players with five shots, but Creighton scored the lone goal in the 32nd minute, and Wilkerson made four saves to keep Missouri close.
Friday also brings Missouri’s final non-conference match before conference play. It will be the sixth meeting between the programs, with the Tigers owning a 4-0-1 series edge and a 15-1 scoring advantage. The most recent matchup ended in a 5-0 Missouri win in 2024.
SEMO arrives at 1-2-1 under second-year head coach John Klein, who was the winningest soccer coach in Columbia College history. The Redhawks, an Ohio Valley Conference program that went 2-15-2 in 2025, most recently lost 2-1 at North Alabama on Aug.
- They also played Missouri State to a scoreless draw on Aug.
Missouri’s home opener at the newly renovated Walton Stadium drew a program-record crowd of 2,324 against Saint Louis, and the Tigers have already brought 4,393 fans through the gates in their first two home matches. That puts Missouri among five programs nationally to host at least 2,000 fans in two home matches this season, alongside Michigan State, South Carolina, Tennessee and BYU.
The renovation, made possible by Audrey J. Walton’s donation, funded a new natural grass playing surface and subsurface improvements. It marked one of the largest gifts in Mizzou Athletics history and the largest ever dedicated to Olympic sports.
On the field, Missouri has shown plenty of early continuity. The Tigers return at least 10 starters from last season, only the fourth time in program history they’ve brought back double-digit starters, and each of the previous three teams reached the NCAA Tournament. Buels, Canada and Yang were all named to the 2026 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist, each earning the honor for the second straight year.
That core helped Missouri show flashes in 2025, including a 3-1 win over Texas in the SEC opener, the program’s first multi-goal SEC-opening victory since 2017. Through six matches this season, the Tigers have outshot opponents 78-45 and hold a 35-26 edge in shots on goal while allowing fewer than a goal per game.
Defense has stayed at the center of the story. Missouri has allowed just four goals in 2026, with shutouts over Western Kentucky and NIU and one goal conceded against Murray State, Missouri State, Creighton and Saint Louis. Yang and Meador, who played all but three minutes together in 2025, are back to lead the back line.
Goalkeeping has also given Missouri a steady foundation. Phillips, who ranked among the top five in the SEC in total saves last season, opened 2026 with her seventh career shutout at Western Kentucky and added a seven-save performance against Saint Louis. Wilkerson closed 2025 with 13 saves across back-to-back shutout draws, then picked up wins at Murray State and against Northern Illinois, where she posted a season-high four saves.
Missouri’s roster also reflects a strong in-state presence. The 2026 team includes 10 Missouri natives, making this one of the program’s most homegrown stretches.
It’s only the second time Missouri has had 10 or more in-state players in three straight seasons, matching a run from 1996 through 2000. The Tigers set a program record with 15 Missouri natives on the 2025 roster.
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