‘We have something to prove’: Mizzou soccer intent on making postseason

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The next step for Mizzou soccer is so close that the entire program can taste it.

Although the Tigers haven't made the postseason since 2020, head coach Stefanie Golan feels that they've been consistently building a foundation. And they've gotten close to breaking through, too. Despite the face that the team did end up going 4-10-3 overall in 2025, they lost those 10 games by an average of just 1.7 goals.

Now, Mizzou will enter the 2026 season looking to rebound, after Coach Golan brought in a highly-touted freshman class to compliment some of her veteran returners.

"I think we've got an entire group who's who's hungry and who's really stepped into that," Golan said. "I think, you know, the senior class, they the group who the whole time that they've been here it's been another step, another step, another step. And we feel like we've been we've been continually toeing that line. You know, you're seeing a continued excitement from them. Now, with an extended preseason like we've already been here for a long time, you know. And that can get that can get hard, that can get a little bit monotonous and they love each other. You know, they're leaning into each other. They focus a lot on bringing the energy consistently in training, starting with the warm up. Like, that's a big piece is if we approach the warm up properly, everything else should just fall into place. They have really done a good job of making sure if they don't feel the right energy that they reset, they don't just let it let it linger. So, I think that they've they've done a good job of building that momentum early here."

You can watch the full press conference with Golan in the video player below.

During Monday's media with local media members, Golan said that this team has a clear goal: make it to the beach in November. That's something that hasn't been done in her time in Columbia, but her 2026 squad is coming in with quite a bit of confidence that they can achieve that.

"We want to we want to go to the postseason. These past few seasons we haven't made it there and I'm a newer player, I transferred in [last year, so] I've only had one fall with this team, but it was heartbreaking last year to not go to the postseason. For my last season, and I know for the entire team in general, we want to go to the beach," goalie Riley Wilkerson said. "We want to go show this conference and this country like what Mizzou is and what we represent. I think all of us are just chomping at the bit to to to do that together."

"We have something to prove this year. This is definitely a year where we're going to make it. It's not even like a we hope like we will make it," forward Brianna Buels said. "In the spring, we've been working really, really hard throughout the spring and it's time to show it. Like, our season is finally here, so now we just have to prove it not only to the fans, but to ourselves."

You can watch the full press conference with Wilkerson and Buels in the video player below.

Coach Golan said an important step in achieving that goal of a postseason berth is scoring goals more consistently. It's something the team struggled with quite a bit in 2025, as the group totaled just 15 goals on the season, finishing near the bottom of the Southeastern Conference.

That inability to sustain pressure and test opposing goalkeepers is something the Tigers feel like they can improve upon in the 2026 campaign. In fact, in Mizzou's recent exhibition game against Lindenwood, MU tallied two goals in the first 10 minutes on their way to a 3-1 victory.

"[It's about] just staying prepared, you know, just working not only during practice but also doing stuff after practice, just carrying on like what my strengths [are] and what I'm good at," Buels said, when asked about how to sustain that momentum into the season. "Like for one, just pressing and that's something that we really been working on a lot. So, just knowing when to go, when not to go, just holding it down, you know. . I mean, it feels really great. I love scoring goals, that's my position, so I feel like I just have to, you know, just keep doing that and keep doing what I love."

"I think throughout the time that I've been here, we've reduced the number of goals that we're that we're giving up, you know, but we've got to we've got to find ways to consistently score easy goals," Golan said. "You know, so it's not just taking opportunities, it's taking the right opportunities. And we've spent the first part of preseason really defining what that looks like. Where's the hot zone, where's the goal scoring zone, what's the system, what's the cut back zone, like making sure that everybody's on the same page. So, when the balls are in that area, what's my role? How do I help us put the ball in the back of the net? I think we can, you know, we created quite a few opportunities in the first exhibition and those are just going to continue to grow as these players are starting to get used to one another. It's a new team. You know, there's there's some different combinations of players that we're looking at and it's who's going to fit together and what are those right combinations going to look like."

Mizzou soccer will kickoff the 2026 season against Western Kentucky on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 7 p.m.