Missouri soccer’s Southeastern Conference woes continued Thursday night against No. 9 Florida as the Tigers fell to the Gators in Gainesville 2-1.
The loss marked Missouri’s fourth straight loss to SEC opponents. In each of the four losses, the Tigers have given up two or more goals in the first half and have failed to recover in the second. Missouri has now been outscored 16-9 in SEC play, and have given up three or more goals in three of its five SEC games.
The Tigers’ struggles started early on Thursday as Florida struck quickly. Before the 15th minute the Gators were already up 2-0. Gators redshirt sophomore Parker Roberts tapped in her third goal of the season from five yards out to open up the scoring in the 13th minute. Roberts was assisted by redshirt senior Gabby Seiler, who is tied for first on Florida in assists with five this year.
Less than 30 seconds later, Florida scored again to double the lead when Gators junior Mayra Pelayo put one in off the right post from about ten yards out. She was assisted by freshman Deanne Rose.
The Tigers kept Florida off of the board in the second half, but could not do enough offensively to claw back into the game. Redshirt sophomore Madison Lewis brought Missouri within a goal with a strike from 25 yards out in the 57th minute. The goal was Lewis’ fifth of the season and marked her second straight game with a goal.
The Tigers were unable to get another goal to knot the game, and fell to 1-4 in conference play.
Mizzou returns home on Sunday, Oct. 8 to take on the Tennessee Volunteers at Walton Stadium.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_