Lots of different luggage travels with the Missouri women’s soccer team: equipment bags, backpacks and personal overnights. All are essential for life on the road. But certain players have to carry certain ones.

“We have to carry the snack bag …” freshman forward Reagan Russell said, eyes rolling.

“We” refers to the seven true freshmen on this team. None have made more of an impact for the 9-1 Tigers than Russell and defender Candace Johnson, who have mixed seamlessly into a starting lineup otherwise dominated by veterans. Although the freshmen have been accepted by their upper-class teammates both on the field and off, the bag full of Teddy Grahams, Nutty Bars and Gold Fish serves as a reminder to the rookies that they are still the new girls on the block.

Coach Brian Blitz agreed with the comparison to rookie pitchers in Major League Baseball, who might be forced to carry pink backpacks across the field from the bullpen.

“The snack bag is the one thing that carries throughout,” Blitz said with a grin. “Not in a discerning way though. The seniors help out with the bags too, so don’t let (the freshmen) feel too sorry for themselves.”

Although just a minor prank, the snack bag is the one form of social stratification on the team.

“Everyone is friends,” senior midfielder Haley Krentz said. “Everyone knows everything about everyone. It’s like a huge family.”

This isn’t by accident. Each year, Blitz and his staff strategically assign family trees, not unlike the “big” systems found in sororities, in an attempt to catalyze bonding and trust. As sophomores, players serve as a “mom” to a younger player. The next year, that player is a “mom” to someone else, and the junior becomes a “grandmother.” And so on.

“There’s such a great symbiotic relationship between them,” Blitz said. “We tell them, ‘You’re 22, they’re 18. Don’t let that experience go to waste.’ We tell the seniors, ‘This is how you can leave your legacy.’”

These peer hierarchies are based on a variety of factors. Take Krentz. She’s a “mom” to junior midfielder Danielle Nottingham, and a “grandma” to Kaysie Clark. This year Clark was assigned to Johnson, making Krentz her “great-grandma,” in what she says seems like the perfect match.

They’ve bonded over proximity — they’re both from Texas — and similar interests like missionary work. Johnson has done work in the Dominican Republic and Krentz said she has considered the Peace Corps after graduation.

Off the field, the families expand. Krentz and Johnson have roomed together twice on the road, and, two weekends ago, their parents met at a tailgate. But it’s on the field that these relationships translate into tangible results.

“They’re the perfect people to go to for advice,” Johnson said of the seniors. “If I’m totally confused in the back, I turn to (Krentz or senior defender Allison Hu) and they know what they’re doing, they know what they’re talking about. And that makes me really comfortable.”

Russell said she seeks similar advice.

“The senior forwards are the same way,” said Russell. “I’m always asking them which runs to make, where to move off the ball, how to get the ball without getting knocked over by a defender.”

Blitz said getting to play with younger players has an effect on the seniors as well.

“What the freshmen do is remind them how it is to be fun and naive and exciting and new,” he said. “It freshens them up a little.”

The whole Tiger team will need to be fresh this weekend, when it hits the road for two games. Friday, Missouri takes on Georgia (5-5-1) in Athens before flying to Knoxville to play Tennessee (7-2-2) on Sunday.

“Those two teams are hungry and they’re still in contention,” Blitz said. “We just need to be more hungry than them.”

Certainly, a freshman will be nearby to provide some sweets.