Texas A&M's Lauren Geczik and Missouri's Megan Oduyoye slide for the ball during the first half of Missouri's last home game on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021 at Audrey J. Walton Stadium in Columbia, Mo.
Missouri soccer hosted conference rival Texas A&M for their final game of the season on Thursday.
The Tigers were eliminated from postseason play with their loss to Kentucky last Sunday, but still had plenty to play for in their season finale.
“Let’s play for the seniors; let’s play for our pride,” graduate midfielder Cassidy Nurnberger said. “Coming into this game, that was our mentality — to go at them right away and bring a lot of energy so we can send us seniors out on a W.”
Missouri scored a goal early in the first half and held onto that lead for the rest of the game, defeating the Aggies 1-0.
The Tigers’ first opportunity arose in the 15th minute when Missouri senior midfielder Blythe Beldner played the ball to senior forward Julissa Cisneros in the box, but Texas A&M junior goalie Kenna Caldwell saved the shot, knocking it out of bounds.
On the ensuing corner kick, Beldner’s service bounced off of an Aggie defender’s head before Missouri’s senior forward Skye Kingsley reacted to the deflection and put it in the left side of the net to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
“Last game of the season, it feels great to get that goal,” Kingsley said. “I love this team so much.”
Texas A&M responded with a stretch of chances of their own. In the 24th minute, Hayes pushed the ball past the hands of Sheehan, but the shot went just wide of the right goal post.
The visitors made a goalie switch at halftime, putting in senior Jordan Burbank, who allowed the lone goal of the match.
The Aggies applied more pressure in the second half, pushing the ball into Missouri’s final third for much of the second half. Despite the additional pressure, Sheehan continued to make routine saves, and finished the night with seven.
In the 89th minute, Sheehan came out of the Tiger goal to try and make a play toward the top of the box to stymie a Texas A&M counter attack. Instead, Sheehan and an Aggie attacker ended up on the ground as the ball found its way into the net.
The referee called a penalty on Sheehan, which led to confusion among both sides’ players and sidelines. Then, the referee issued Sheehan a red card and left the Tigers a player down for the penalty and last minute of the game.
“We can’t do anything about it,” head coach Stefanie Golan said. “It happened, and we were just waiting for the referee to make a decision of what he’s going to do with it.”
Missouri’s junior goalkeeper Isabella Alessio replaced Sheehan in goal and helped the Tigers close out the match. Missouri’s three “super” seniors found each other after the final whistle.
“We hugged and that feeling definitely had the emotion,” Nurnberger said. “The tears were flowing a little bit, but knowing that us three, we’ve made it through five years here, something was special.”
The Tigers finished the season with a home victory for their seniors and head coach Stefanie Golan.
“This week was about sending those three out on really, really high notes,” Golan said. “Why wouldn’t we fight our tails off to pull it off?”
Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com