Illinois womens’ soccer has held Braggin’ Rights over Mizzou since Aug. 19, 2021, when they defeated the Tigers, 4-0 at Walton Stadium. After more than two years, Mizzou has taken it back, winning a close fought, 2-1 battle that came down to the final minutes of action.
Tonight was a tale of two halves, with Stefanie Golan’s squad keeping the Illinois back line constantly on their heels at the beginning of the match. Jenna Bartels put the Tigers on the board early with an acrobatic goal off of a long cross from Rachel Kutella with 31:37 remaining in the first half. Mizzou continued to pressure Illinois with constant runs into the attacking third, and their persistence was rewarded just over 10 minutes later when Kylee Simmons scored her fourth goal of the year following a messy battle for possession in the box. The Tigers put up 10 shots in the first 45 minutes of action compared to four for Illinois.
Illinois showed renewed determination following the Simmons goal, however, and would create most of their scoring opportunities in the final 10 minutes of the half. This momentum carried over into the second half, when Illinois flipped the script and had several opportunities to tie the match.
Illinois cut the Mizzou lead to one on a penalty kick by Kennedy Berschel with 33:49 left in the half, leaving plenty of time for a match-tying goal. Illinois was aggressive on the attack in the last 45 minutes, which resulted in seven shots and over a dozen scoring opportunities.
However, they were unable to capitalize, and 2022 SEC All-Freshman Team member Bella Hollenbach made several key saves to keep the Tigers on top. The redshirt sophomore goalkeeper was making her home season debut tonight after missing the first four matches of the season. Following an especially intense final 10 minutes, Mizzou was able to hold onto the lead and get their first win since the match with Creighton.
The Tigers are now 3-1-2 on the season, and their next match will take place Sunday in St. Louis with in-state rivals Missouri State.