Columbia News

The University of Missouri women's soccer team is set to continue its 2025 season with a match against Youngstown State on Wednesday, August 20, at Audrey J. Walton Stadium. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will be available via streaming on SEC Network+.

This meeting marks only the third time Missouri has faced an opponent from the Horizon League, having previously lost twice to Milwaukee. For Youngstown State, this is their second matchup against a Southeastern Conference program; their first was a 3-0 loss to Kentucky in September 2019.

Missouri enters its 30th season of competition in 2025 and will host nine home games throughout the year, including five Southeastern Conference contests. Five of these home matches are set for September. After facing Youngstown State, Missouri will play three consecutive non-conference road games—against Saint Louis, Memphis, and Missouri State—a scheduling occurrence last seen in 2018.

Youngstown State finished its previous season with a record of 5-11-2 overall and went 3-7 in Horizon League play. The Penguins return 18 players while adding 11 newcomers under new head coach Rich Wall. This game will be their third straight road contest this season after losses to Indiana (6-1) and No. 25 Texas Tech (4-1).

In its opening match of the season, Missouri played South Dakota State to a 1-1 draw at Walton Stadium on August 14. Ava Vetter scored her first career goal following an assist sequence from Landis Canada and Emily Derucki in the first half. Goalkeeper Kate Phillips made four saves during the match before South Dakota State equalized late in the second half.

Earlier this month, Missouri drew Kansas State in an exhibition match by the same scoreline (1-1). In that game, sophomore forward Emily Derucki recorded four shots and scored Mizzou's lone goal as the Tigers led statistically across several categories including shots and possession percentage.

Senior midfielder Keegan Good returns as Missouri’s top scorer from last year with three goals and leads eight returning players who posted multi-point games last season. Junior goalkeeper Kate Phillips had two matches with seven or more saves during the previous campaign.

Six Tigers—Brianna Buels, Landis Canada, Emily Derucki, Keegan Good, Morgan Meador and Mia Yang—were named to the SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist for 2025.

Good spent her summer playing for Rochester FC in the USL W League while interning at Mayo Clinic on Dr. Rafael Sierra’s orthopedic research team. She balanced anchoring Mizzou's midfield with preparing for medical school entrance exams and advanced coursework.

Head coach Stefanie Golan added two staff members during the offseason: associate head coach Renee Horton joins from West Georgia after previous stops at Georgia, USC, Xavier, Lander and South Florida; Austen Parker comes from North Texas as goalkeeper coach following prior experience at Central Oklahoma and Southwestern Christian.

The Department of Athletics recently received a major philanthropic gift from Audrey J. Walton—the largest ever dedicated solely to Olympic sports at Mizzou—to enhance facilities at Audrey J. Walton Track & Field and Soccer Stadium. Planned improvements include installation of a new natural grass field along with subsurface upgrades.