Columbia News

Missouri Tigers women's soccer will face the Illinois Fighting Illini at home on Thursday, September 4, with the match scheduled for 5 p.m. at Audrey J. Walton Stadium. The game will be available via live stream on SEC Network+.

The Tigers enter this matchup after a 2-0 win against Missouri State, marking their first road victory of the season. Olivia Chianelli scored her first goal of the year in the 80th minute to break a scoreless tie, followed by Ava Vetter's second goal of the season less than three minutes later, assisted by McKenna Moran. Goalkeeper Kate Phillips earned her second shutout of the season and fourth in her career, making two saves during the match.

In recent games, freshman Mia Yang recorded her first career goal against No. 15 Memphis, while Mia Devrouax netted her inaugural collegiate goal versus Youngstown State. Senior Hailey Chambliss contributed two goals against Youngstown State in under a minute—an achievement not seen since Leah Selm's two-goal performance against Oklahoma in October 2024.

Phillips is currently tied for fourth in saves within the Southeastern Conference and ranks fifth in average saves per game.

Missouri leads its all-time series with Illinois 7-5-3 and has performed well at home with a record of 4-3-2 against the Illini. The teams have played each other annually for five consecutive seasons; their last meeting ended in a 1-1 draw in Champaign on August 22, 2024.

This year marks Missouri’s 30th season competing in women’s soccer. The team will host nine games during the season—including five Southeastern Conference matches—with more than half taking place in September.

Illinois arrives undefeated this season with a 5-0 record following wins over Kentucky and Boston College. Despite being picked to finish fifteenth in the Big Ten preseason poll by conference coaches, several players—Izzy Lee, Sarah Foley and Emma Yee—were named to the league’s Players to Watch list. Thirteen athletes return from Illinois' previous squad that finished last year at an even .500 but did not qualify for their conference tournament.

In their most recent contest, Missouri outshot Missouri State by wide margins both overall (16-7) and on target (10-2), also leading in corner kicks (6-2).

Against Youngstown State earlier this season, Landis Canada scored her first goal of the campaign while Brianna Buels added her fifth career goal. Chambliss netted two goals as part of that win; Devrouax scored her first career goal with an assist from Ava Lamothe; Phillips made four saves—the highest tally for a Mizzou goalkeeper on opening day since Mercedes Sapp’s seven-save effort in August 2018.

Chambliss returned to play after redshirting last season due to giving birth to her daughter Oakley and quickly contributed offensively for Missouri.

Senior midfielder Keegan Good remains a key player as top returning scorer from last year and was among six Tigers named to the SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist alongside Buels, Canada, Derucki, Morgan Meador and Mia Yang.

Good spent time over summer playing for Rochester FC in USL W League while interning at Mayo Clinic on Dr. Rafael Sierra’s orthopedic research team—a period during which she balanced academics and athletics as she prepares for medical school.

On staff changes: head coach Stefanie Golan hired Renee Horton from West Georgia as associate head coach and Austen Parker from North Texas as goalkeeper coach ahead of this season. Horton brings experience coaching multiple NCAA Tournament teams across various universities; Parker previously led his NAIA team to national success before entering college coaching ranks.

Facility improvements are underway at Audrey J. Walton Track & Field and Soccer Stadium following one of Mizzou Athletics’ largest-ever philanthropic gifts—provided by Audrey J. Walton herself—which is funding enhancements including installation of a new natural grass playing field and subsurface upgrades.

For updates on Missouri Tigers women’s soccer throughout the season visit MUTigers.com or follow them across social media platforms Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok.