Mizzou players signing autographs after a 1-0 loss to Arkansas. | Dylan Heinrich Tigers’ winless streak in SEC play extends to 10 Mizzou (2-5-1) soccer’s offense couldn’t get the job done as they fell 1-0 to Texas A&M in the SEC opener. This game marked the fourth match the Tigers have been shut out this season. Texas A&M broke the tie midway through the second half after Margo Matula found an opening in a crowded box, burying an eventual rebound off a corner kick in the 62nd minute. The corner kick was originally forced after an Aggie shot bounced off the forearm of Tiger defender Rachel Kutella. The impact caused the fifth-year player to bleed, and she was removed from the game to be touched up on the sideline. Freshman Callaway Combs took her place in the back line, but was unable to affect the eventual A&M goal. “We didn’t want to sub her off; we wanted her to be on for the play but were told by the official that he would wave her on after the corner was taken,” Missouri head coach Stefanie Golan said after the match. “I felt like [since] our trainer cleared her she should be put back on before the corner. They weren’t going to do that. So we sub, they end up scoring.” The Texas A&M offense ran circles around the Tigers, winning the shots battle 18-9 and the corner kick count 10-3. Tigers goalie Kate Phillips kept Mizzou within striking distance, racking up seven saves in goal. “I think it’s a really hard position, especially coming right into SEC play when those games are even harder,” defender Morgan Meador said after the match. “I think it was an amazing performance by her that was the best she could have played for me in a game like that.” Offensively, the Tigers failed to generate chances, with only one of their eight shots landing on goal. That one shot came in the 81st minute as Kylee Simmons pushed a shot near the top of the goal but was pawed away by Aggie goalkeeper Sydney Fuller. Mizzou had several close calls in the box during those final ten minutes, but were unable to challenge Fuller again. Simmons had another primo opportunity early in the second half as she sailed a shot just high of the goal, maybe six inches away from pay dirt. This was a physical game from both sides, as the two teams combined for 20 fouls and numerous injury stoppages; Luckily none of those stoppages were serious. Mizzou was the only team with cards in the form of two yellows; one for defender Mia Yang and one for Kutella. Part of this disjointedness could be attributed to Mizzou entering this matchup shorthanded. The Tigers were missing three of their normal starters, either unable to play (Bella Hollenbach) or brought into the game later on a minute restrictions (Kylee Simmons and Milena Fischer). This gave an opportunity for Phillips to make her first start in net of the year, while freshman Emily Derucki made her first career start for the team in black and gold. Stretching back to last season this is now the fifth straight SEC game the Tigers have lost, and they have not won a match in conference play in their last 10. They hope to break this streak by pulling off a behemoth upset of No. 4 Arkansas in Fayetteville on Sunday, Sep. 22 at 1 p.m. “We’re going to let it hurt for right now but that’s going to give us a lot of motivation to come into this next game and get that result that we want and that we deserve.”

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