The Missouri Tigers (2-3-1) came into Sunday’s match against the SEMO Redhawks (0-4) without a win in their previous four tries. The offense was the biggest culprit in those losses, as the Tigers only found the back of the net twice in that span. Missouri’s 2023 leading scorer Kylee Simmons had not scored in the season entering the game, either.
That all changed Sunday as the Tigers took advantage of a porous SEMO defense. Missouri scored four first half goals, and ultimately came away with a dominant 5-0 win. Those five goals are the most Missouri has ever scored in a game under head coach Stefanie Golan, besting the previous mark of four. The number was originally set in 2021 in a 7-4 loss to BYU and tied last year, also against SEMO in a match Mizzou won 4-0.
The scoring was led by Kylee Simmons, who finally notched a goal this season. After scoring 11 last year, her first in the 2024 campaign came via a running header down the middle of the pitch, set up by a beautiful cross from senior midfielder Leah Selm. SEMO keeper Sophia Elfrink had virtually no chance as the ball screamed past her left shoulder. Getting Simmons going could prove momentous for this Missouri team moving forward, according to Golan.
“We’ve put ourselves in positions to be able to score goals, and they haven’t been falling the way that we’ve wanted them to,” Golan said. “So to have one where multiple goals are falling and she had a hand in a few of them, I think that’s good for us as we’re moving forward into a really difficult stretch of our schedule.”
Between the 13th minute and the 30th minute, Missouri played nearly flawless soccer. Each time the Redhawks tried to play a ball out of their zone, it was quickly recaptured by the Tigers, with Brianna Buels stealing quite a few passes individually. Every cross was crisp, players were finding open spots to attack between midfield and the box, and it seemed like every time a ball was played across there was a Tiger waiting for it. Those four first-half goals were the result.
Golan attributed some of that success in the attack to a change in the location of crosses during the match.
“[The passes were] far enough away from the goalkeeper that she wasn’t gonna come out to grab them,” Golan said. “I think in a lot of games, we’ve been serving too close to the keeper, and a lot of them have gone straight to her.”
Leah Selm and Kylee Simmons were especially fluid in the box area, both recording at least one goal and assist. Selm’s goal put the Tigers up 2-0 on a volley from just inside the box off an assist from Landis Canada, and the fun moments kept coming.
Two of the final three Tiger goals, in fact, were of the first-career variety. Both redshirt freshman Monica Brauner and junior Bella Carrillo scored their first goals in the black and gold (actually, white and gold in this particular match), and the Tigers were styling on the Redhawks. Brauner punched in a ball that ricocheted off Elfrink in front of the net, while Carrillo scored with her left on a touch pass from Simmons in the second half. Brauner credited her teammates with setting her up for the opportunity.
“The team put me in a great position,” Brauner said. “Kylie had the perfect cross, so I just did what I could with the ball.”
At the end of the game, Missouri clocked 26 shots while blanking the Redhawks in the same category. The squad also earned 14 corner kicks and a penalty kick that Buels buried in the top right to extend the Tiger lead to 4-0.
On Sunday, the Tigers scored more goals than they had all season long. After the game, every player that scored for Missouri gets to go in the middle of the postgame circle to be recognized. Instead of it being a solo spotlight, this circle could better be described as a party.
The Tigers will look to carry this momentum into a much tougher game in Durham where they take on the Duke Blue Devils, a team that just beat No. 2 North Carolina on Thursday.
That all changed Sunday as the Tigers took advantage of a porous SEMO defense. Missouri scored four first half goals, and ultimately came away with a dominant 5-0 win. Those five goals are the most Missouri has ever scored in a game under head coach Stefanie Golan, besting the previous mark of four. The number was originally set in 2021 in a 7-4 loss to BYU and tied last year, also against SEMO in a match Mizzou won 4-0.
The scoring was led by Kylee Simmons, who finally notched a goal this season. After scoring 11 last year, her first in the 2024 campaign came via a running header down the middle of the pitch, set up by a beautiful cross from senior midfielder Leah Selm. SEMO keeper Sophia Elfrink had virtually no chance as the ball screamed past her left shoulder. Getting Simmons going could prove momentous for this Missouri team moving forward, according to Golan.
“We’ve put ourselves in positions to be able to score goals, and they haven’t been falling the way that we’ve wanted them to,” Golan said. “So to have one where multiple goals are falling and she had a hand in a few of them, I think that’s good for us as we’re moving forward into a really difficult stretch of our schedule.”
Between the 13th minute and the 30th minute, Missouri played nearly flawless soccer. Each time the Redhawks tried to play a ball out of their zone, it was quickly recaptured by the Tigers, with Brianna Buels stealing quite a few passes individually. Every cross was crisp, players were finding open spots to attack between midfield and the box, and it seemed like every time a ball was played across there was a Tiger waiting for it. Those four first-half goals were the result.
Golan attributed some of that success in the attack to a change in the location of crosses during the match.
“[The passes were] far enough away from the goalkeeper that she wasn’t gonna come out to grab them,” Golan said. “I think in a lot of games, we’ve been serving too close to the keeper, and a lot of them have gone straight to her.”
Leah Selm and Kylee Simmons were especially fluid in the box area, both recording at least one goal and assist. Selm’s goal put the Tigers up 2-0 on a volley from just inside the box off an assist from Landis Canada, and the fun moments kept coming.
Two of the final three Tiger goals, in fact, were of the first-career variety. Both redshirt freshman Monica Brauner and junior Bella Carrillo scored their first goals in the black and gold (actually, white and gold in this particular match), and the Tigers were styling on the Redhawks. Brauner punched in a ball that ricocheted off Elfrink in front of the net, while Carrillo scored with her left on a touch pass from Simmons in the second half. Brauner credited her teammates with setting her up for the opportunity.
“The team put me in a great position,” Brauner said. “Kylie had the perfect cross, so I just did what I could with the ball.”
At the end of the game, Missouri clocked 26 shots while blanking the Redhawks in the same category. The squad also earned 14 corner kicks and a penalty kick that Buels buried in the top right to extend the Tiger lead to 4-0.
On Sunday, the Tigers scored more goals than they had all season long. After the game, every player that scored for Missouri gets to go in the middle of the postgame circle to be recognized. Instead of it being a solo spotlight, this circle could better be described as a party.
The Tigers will look to carry this momentum into a much tougher game in Durham where they take on the Duke Blue Devils, a team that just beat No. 2 North Carolina on Thursday.
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