Amidst a flurry of whistles and cards, Missouri soccer fell short 2-1 against Georgia in their SEC home opener on Sunday. Missouri’s record drops to 5-3-2 on the season and 1-2 in conference play, while Georgia’s record improves to 5-2-3 and 1-1-1.

The game saw an abundance of fouls, as the teams combined for 22 of them. Yellow cards were awarded to senior goalkeeper Bella Hollenbach in the eighth minute and senior defender Grace Pettet in the 38th minute and one red card on the Tigers’ coaching staff in the eighth minute. Georgia’s Croix Bethune received a yellow card in the 10th minute as well. 

The troubles started for the Tigers after Hollenbach took down a Georgia player while diving to block a shot on goal. The misfortune continued when the penalty kick resulting from the card landed in the bottom right corner for the first goal of the game.

Associate head coach Andy Stoots was ejected from the game following the penalty kick and subsequent goal for persistent infringement. 

In the 19th minute, a blocked shot from Georgia’s Olivia Breide rebounded to the foot of Georgia’s Summer Denigan and right past Hollenbach’s head into the bottom left corner for the second goal of the game. 

Sophomore Kylee Simmons, who is coming off of receiving SEC Offensive Player of the Week, put the Tigers on the board with a laser into the top right corner in the 32nd minute. Simmons scored the only goal of the game and has found the back of the net in five straight games. 

Missouri’s defense struggled against Georgia for the entirety of the game, but the Tigers did improve in the second half by not allowing another goal. Missouri’s offense came out of the gates hot in the second half, applying a lot of pressure on the Bulldogs and taking six shots in the second half after taking just two in the first half.  

Missouri will try to break their losing streak with No. 7 Arkansas at 6 p.m. CST on Friday, Sept. 28. Georgia heads back home to face Vanderbilt on Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. EDT. 

Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com

Copy Edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com