BATON ROUGE- The LSU soccer team closed out its 1999 season Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 loss to 17th-ranked SMU at the LSU Soccer Complex.
With the loss, the Tigers ended the season with a 4-15-1 record, their third consecutive losing season. SMU remained red hot, winning for the 11th time in 14 outings, while improving to 13-5-1.
The Tigers hung tough with one of the nation’s hottest teams, battling back and forth for the first 30 minutes of play. SMU finally got on the scoreboard just before the end of the first half.
Tara Comfort sent a perfectly placed corner kick in front of the net and an on-charging Misty Noland was able to head the ball home for a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute of play.
SMU went into the half with a 1-0 lead, but quickly added to it early in the second half. Ashley Potthoff took the ball just outside the penalty box, turned and fired away from 20-yards out, just beyond the reach of LSU goalkeeper Sara Krupa for a 2-0 lead in the 53rd minute.
LSU’s Laura Prichard nearly cut the lead in half in the 65th minute, breaking in alone on SMU goalkeeper Becca Lief. Prichard fired to the lower left corner of the net, but Lief got just enough of the ball with her right hand to knock the ball wide of the net. It was the only save Lief had to make in recording her fourth consecutive shutout and tenth overall on the season.
While the Tigers hung in the match as long as they could, the depth of a national-caliber team finally set in, as SMU was able to wear down the Tiger midfield and defense and take control of the match in the second half.
Comfort closed out the scoring in 74th minute, weaving her way through the Tiger defense to set up a 10-yard shot that beat Krupa to her left side for the final 3-0 advantage.
In the final outing of her career, Krupa was outstanding, stopping a career-high 14 shots on the day, the third highest total in LSU history. LSU was outshot 33-5 on the day with a majority of SMU’s shots coming in the second half.
After starting out the season 4-3, injuries set in and the Tigers went winless over their final 13 matches, going 0-12-1 during the stretch.