One game in between Mizzou soccer and an SEC Tournament berth

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou soccer team's SEC Tournament fate is in their hands, as the Tigers get set for a must-win regular-season finale against LSU on Sunday.

At this point, the Tigers' path to the conference tournament is pretty simple: beat LSU and you punch your first ticket to the SEC Tournament since 2020. Lose or draw against the Bayou Bengals, and your season is finished.

"It just takes a fight, this is a fighting chance right here," senior forward Brianna Buels said. "This is like a do-or-die moment. You know, last year, our last game was LSU and we did lose to them, so I feel like right now this is like a revenge tour that we're trying to do. I think we're going to compete really well and battle our butts off."

As Mizzou gets set for a win-or-go-home clash on Sunday afternoon, the team isn't shying away from the stakes of this game. In fact, they're embracing it, wholeheartedly.

"We're going to come out and we're going to play our game. We're going to fight till the end: every throw in, every head ball, every battle in the box. We are going to come out with all we got," junior forward Emily Derucki said. "We haven't [made the SEC Tournament] in the past three years I've been here, but I think this is our year. We have a lot of promise here. And yeah, we're going to win this Sunday."

Head coach Stefanie Golan and her team enter Sunday's high-stakes showdown fresh off of a dramatic win over Texas A&M. In that game, the Tigers got themselves into a two-goal deficit against the Aggies in the first half, in a game MU needed to win for its conference tournament aspirations.

However, Mizzou didn't show any signs of panic. In fact, they - instead- showed a reponse.

In the 23rd minute, senior defender Taryn Chance netted a goal to get MU within one. And then, before halftime, freshman forward/midfielder Rylie Morse hit the equalizer, thanks to an assist from Derucki.

"Once Taryn scored that first goal, amazing shot, then we were fighting until half to get that next one. And Landis [Canada] sprinting to that corner, getting that cross off and then I settled it down, crossed it to Rylie and she tapped it in. It was just that was a great way to end the first half," Derucki said. "I think that's what we needed to get into the next half and then start off strong."

She was right, because Mizzou came out of the locker room swinging, as Buels headed a ball into the back of the net at the start of the second period.

"You know, it was really crazy," Buels said. "I wasn't expecting it to go in that early in the half, but, you know, things happen. You know, I was ready for the ball as Rylie kicked it, that was a great free kick by Rylie, so really props to her for that ball. But, I was ready."

Despite not getting off to the best of starts, the Tigers showed an ability to adjust, as the players said they shifted to a different formation over the course of that win over Texas A&M.

"We started off with the 4-4-2, but then we changed to a 4-3-3, so I thought once we switched to a 4-3-3 we were starting to connect more passes and being able to focus on like more of the details and being able to find our forwards and like make our runs across," Buels said. "I think that was a huge advantage of us. You know, we battled our butts off the whole time, but I think it just starts from the beginning. You know, staying on the front foot, locking in for those first ten minutes of the game because that's what's going to count a lot."

"It's hard to come back after getting down in a little rut and then coming and being able to get out of that mindset and have the strength and the power to come as a team and come back and pull out a 3-2 win is just incredible by our team," Derucki said.

Now, heading into Sunday's game against LSU, Tiger soccer knows it'll need to start faster out of the gates.

"I mean really just the final third piece, you know, sometimes we struggle with the final execution. So I think just moving the ball, staying connected, finding that tempo. I think tempo is going to be a really big key in Sunday's game. But, as long as we just stay prepared and just focus on the small details, I think we'll be okay," Buels said.

"We cannot go down two goals or something like that again or give up an early goal that's like something like that again. And also just being able to find our rhythm early because we take too long to get into games, and we just got to make sure we start right from the front," Morse said.

Once again, Coach Golan will be leaning on her freshman phenoms, Morse and freshman midfielder/forward Lana Adams, to create momentum on offense.

That duo's contributions aren't just getting noticed in Columbia, but the national stage, as well. Just on Monday, Morse was named the Southeastern Conference's Offensive Player of the Week, after she scored the equalizer and set up the game-winning goal against the Aggies.

She attributes her early success to the coaching staff.

"They know what my goals are like in soccer, so they don't let me fall below those expectations or they'll let me know if I am falling below that. So, they keep me held to a pretty high standard, which like just pushes me every day," Morse said.

Mizzou will kickoff against LSU at 12 p.m. on Sunday at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.