The Crimson Tide, 9-4-1 (3-3 SEC), rolled over Mizzou soccer with two goals in the first 10 minutes. Head coach Stefanie Golan is now in her longest losing streak with the team since the 2021 season. The losing streak and scoring drought extend to five games, and the record stands at 4-8-1 (1-5-0 SEC).
Alabama came into this matchup leading the SEC in shots attempted and tied for third in goals scored. It was evident that their offense was one of the best in the conference from the kickoff when they
immediately put pressure on the Tigers’ back line.
In the fifth minute, midfielder Kiley Kukan found forward Larkin Thomason in the penalty box, and the prolific scorer snuck the ball past goalkeeper Kate Phillips’s diving hands into the bottom left of the net. That goal was good for Thomason’s seventh of the season, putting her into the top 10 of the SEC.
Mizzou must have had whiplash from the initial scoring burst from Alabama because they were caught off guard yet again. Less than two minutes later, midfielder Cameron Silva stepped to a loose ball in the penalty box and launched it into nearly the same spot as the previous goal, giving the Crimson Tide a swift 2-0 lead.
Despite Alabama’s early scoring barrage, both sides had two shots on goal in the first half. The downfall of Golan’s attackers in the last four matches has been the lack of capitalization. The loss of Keegan Good to a seaso-ending injury has become apparent.
“(The loss) impacts our ability to have the ball more than it does the scoring pieces of it,” Golan said. “She was in the midfield, and so she broke up a lot of plays and regained possession for us.”
At halftime, the Crimson Tide still held their two-goal lead. Mizzou trailed with two shot attempts to Alabama’s five, but the Tigers’ four corner kicks set up some promising chances in the opening half.
A series of events in the 87th minute that summed up this matchup ended in an own goal by freshman defender Aly Bryant. She was trying to clear out an attacking effort by midfielder Melina Rebimbas, but mistakenly kicked it into Mizzou’s bottom right corner while Phillips was recovering.
The Tigers were absolutely stonewalled in the second half. It wasn’t until the 73rd minute that they logged their first shot attempt of the half. Each team finished the match with five shots on goal, but the Crimson Tide had 11 total attempts to Mizzou’s six.
Stats and Storylines
Alabama had previously been ranked inside the top 25, but back-to-back losses knocked them out. In the Tigers’ final four matches, two of their conference opponents are currently ranked (No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Arkansas).
Defender Mia Yang only saw 48 minutes of action in this match due to an injury early in the second half. The junior had played every minute of the season until this point.
“(Mia) took a knock in the in the first half and when we started the second half, she didn’t look like she was moving well,” Golan said. “We didn’t want to take the risk of it becoming worse than what it was.”
A season stat for this Mizzou team that has summed up the losing streak is 4.17 shots on goal per game. That number is good for worst in the conference.
The Tigers have a short break in between matches before hitting the road again for a two-game trip. The first will come against No. 24 Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. on Oct. 10.
