COLUMBIA, S.C. – The LSU soccer team dropped its fourth straight match Sunday afternoon, falling to South Carolina, 8-1, in Columbia.
LSU (4-7 overall, 2-2 in SEC play) fell behind South Carolina (6-2, 3-1) 2-0 less than eight minutes into the match and never recovered.
Leslie Lamb took a feed from Mindy Sanders three yards outside the LSU goal and slid the ball past Tiger goalkeeper Sara Krupa just 2:43 into play to start South Carolina off.
Just over five minutes later South Carolina made it a 2-0 contest when Lamb set up Morgan McIntyre with nothing but an empty net in front of her and she tapped the ball in from four yards out.
The Tigers tried to battle with the Gamecocks and in the 29th minute climbed back into the match when senior Katie Thomas netted the first goal her career off a free kick from 20 yards out.
The momentum quickly shifted back to South Carolina, however, as Sanders scored in the 33rd minute, then Kanika McAlpine gave the Gamecocks a 4-1 halftime lead with a goal in the 36th minute.
Bonnie Otillio replaced Krupa, who stopped 12 shots under constant fire in the first half, and fared no better. The Gamecocks iced the game with a pair of goals in just over a minute early in the second half.
Megan Gutstadt struck in the 57th minute, followed by Lamb’s second of the match just 1:15 later. Sanders added her second of the game in the 66th minute and Brooke McPartland closed out the scoring with a goal in the 81st minute of play.
The Gamecocks outshot the Tigers 31-5 on the afternoon.
The loss was the second straight in Southeastern Conference play, following an 11-0 loss to Florida on Friday night. LSU will try to snap its four-game skid on Friday when the Tigers travel to Oklahoma State.