COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou soccer returns to action for the 2026 season, opening the year at Western Kentucky on Thursday, August 13, at WKU Soccer Complex at 7 p.m., marking the first meeting between the programs. The Tigers open the year with a pair of matches in the Bluegrass State, as the team heads to Murray State for its second match on Sunday.

PRE-MATCH PRESS
-The Tigers opened 2026 with a scoreless draw at Western Kentucky on Thursday, as senior goalkeeper Kate Phillips (Fisher, Ind.) recorded her seventh career shutout.
-Sunday marks the second meeting between the programs, with Mizzou taking the lone prior matchup in 2019, 1-0.
-Missouri returns the bulk of its roster from a season ago, including Phillips and center backs Mia Yang (Leawood, Kan.) and Morgan Meador (Ballwin, Mo.), who anchored the shutout in the opener.
-Murray State makes its home debut Sunday under first-year head coach Ben Madsen, having opened its season on the road at Ole Miss.
-The Tigers return to Columbia for their home opener against in-state foe Saint Louis on Thursday, Aug. 20, at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.
-The match is set for noon CT at Cutchin Field and will stream on ESPN+, with live stats and in-match updates available at MUTigers.com and on X at @MizzouSoccer.

TAKING THE PITCH
-Missouri enters its 31st season of competition in 2026.
-The Tigers return the majority of a roster that gained significant experience a season ago, including their top returning scorer, both starting center backs and both goalkeepers from 2025.
-Mizzou opens the year with two matches in Kentucky, playing Western Kentucky to a scoreless draw and the forthcoming contest at Murray State, before its home opener against in-state foe Saint Louis on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 4:30 p.m. at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.

FACILITY FACELIFT
-The Tigers will return to an upgraded Audrey J. Walton Stadium for its home opener, part of a project funded by a landmark philanthropic gift from Audrey J. Walton announced in January 2025.
-The gift, one of the largest in Mizzou Athletics history and the largest ever dedicated to Olympic sports, funded a new natural grass playing surface and subsurface improvements.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY
-Thursday marks the second-ever meeting between Missouri and Murray State, with the Black & Gold taking the lone meeting in 2019, 1-0.
-The match is the back end of a two-match trip to the Bluegrass State, with Mizzou previously battling at Western Kentucky on Thursday in the first match between the programs.
-The opening matches 2026 season marks the first time since 2020 Mizzou has played away from home in its first two matches.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-Murray State opens its home slate against the Tigers under first-year head coach Ben Madsen, named the fifth head coach in program history in December after 14 seasons as an assistant at Auburn.
-The Racers reached the semifinals of the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament a season ago.
-Murray State opened 2026 on the road at SEC member Ole Miss on Aug. 12, falling in a tight non-conference opener.
-Sunday marks the Racers’ home debut, part of a non-conference slate that also features power-conference foes Ole Miss, Missouri and Notre Dame.
-Prior to the season, Murray State battled Western Kentucky, the Tigers’ previous opponent, in an exhibition match, falling 3-1.

LAST TIME OUT
-Missouri opened the 2026 season with a scoreless draw at Western Kentucky on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the WKU Soccer Complex.
-The Tigers carried the run of play, outshooting the Hilltoppers 11-8 and holding a 6-3 edge in shots on goal.
-Phillips posted her seventh career shutout, the 12th by a Tiger in a season opener, making three saves, her first not coming until the 54th minute.
-Mizzou set the tone early, outshooting WKU 7-2 in the first half, with freshman Audrey Gilbert (Plano, Texas) recording the first collegiate shot of her career and Emily Derucki (Wildwood, Mo.) following in the fourth minute.
-Freshman Rylie Morse (Lebanon, Ohio) led the team with two shots on goal, in the 55th and 68th minutes.
-Meador played all 90 minutes for the 28th consecutive match.
-With the result, Missouri moved to 18-8-5 all-time in season openers and 4-5-3 when opening on the road.

THE CORE IS BACK
-Missouri returns the bulk of its 2025 roster, a young group that logged heavy minutes a season ago and comes back a year older.-The back line returns Yang and Meador, who started together throughout 2025.
-The midfield brings back Olivia Chianelli (Arlington Heights, Ill.), McKenna Moran (Rowlett, Texas), Ava Vetter (Clayton, Mo.), Aly Bryant (Lake St. Louis, Mo.) and Monica Brauner (Kansas City, Mo.), while the attack returns Brianna Buels (Indianapolis, Ind.), Derucki, Mia Devrouax (Florissant, Mo.), Landis Canada (Fenton, Mich.) and Landry Hopkins (Dardenne Prarie, Mo.).
-Phillips and Riley Wilkerson (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) both return in goal.
-Buels, Canada and Yang were named to the 2026 SEC Soccer Preseason Watchlist, with all three earning their second straight watchlist nod after first being honored a season ago.
-The Tigers return at least 10 starters from a season ago, marking just the fourth time in program history Missouri has brought back double-digit starters, with all three previous teams reaching the NCAA Tournament.

TURNING THE PAGE
-Missouri opens a new season looking to build on the flashes it showed in 2025, when the Tigers pushed several ranked opponents and closed the year with back-to-back shutouts.
-Mizzou’s signature result came in its SEC opener: a 3-1 win over Texas, the program’s first multi-goal SEC-opening victory since 2017.
-The Tigers return that experience and a defensive foundation that kept them in matches all fall.

STINGY IN THE BACKFIELD
-Defense was Missouri’s calling card in 2025: the Tigers dropped just two matches by three or more goals all season.
-Mizzou closed the year with a 0-0 draw against SEC-leading Arkansas in its home finale.
-Center backs Yang and Meador, who played all but three minutes together in 2025, return to anchor the back line.

SIDELINE STAFF
-Missouri added Callie McKinney to Stefanie Golan’s staff as an assistant coach in May, arriving after a season at SMU and five at Bellarmine, where she served as head coach in 2024.
-At SMU, she helped the Mustangs to an 8-8-2 record against one of the nation’s toughest schedules; at Bellarmine, she guided the Knights to Division I-era program records for wins and ASUN victories in her lone season at the helm.
-A Franklin, Tenn., native, McKinney played at Louisville (2016-19), reaching the NCAA Tournament in each of her final two seasons.
-Missouri is one of three in the Power Four that lists nine or more women on staff roster pages (Georgia, Maryland).

STRENGTH IN GOAL
-Missouri returns an experienced, proven tandem in goal, with seniors Phillips and Wilkerson both back to compete for time between the posts after seeing starts in 2025.
-Phillips, a Fishers, Indiana, native, ranked among the top five in the SEC in total saves a season ago, starting all but the final two matches and holding opponents to one goal or fewer on numerous occasions.
-Wilkerson closed 2025 in form, making 13 saves across the Tigers’ final two matches, both of which were shutout draws, coming against Arkansas and Auburn.

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); the only other run came across Mizzou's first five seasons (1996–2000).
-The Tigers set a program record with 15 Missouri natives on the 2025 roster.

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.