BATON ROUGE — Sophomore Kara Dean’s 13th goal of the season sparked a 1-0 victory over Auburn to help as LSU set a new school record for wins with its 12th.
“This is a very emotional time for us right now,” said head coach George Fotopoulos. “This win is an accumulation of tons of hard work by this team. We have probably assured ourselves our first trip to the SEC tournament in two years. I am excited for this team. This was a great victory for us. My hat goes off to this Tiger team.”
LSU improved to 12-4 overall and 4-3 in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn fell to 10-6 overall and 1-5 in the SEC.
Dean’s goal was what the LSU Tigers needed to move past Auburn to the victory. She scored on a shot from about 30 yards out in the 33rd minute of the match. The goal was her 13th of the season which moved her into second place in LSU history for goals in a single season. Former Tiger Jackie Cooper holds the record at 25 set in 1996.
Goalie Bonnie Otillio and the LSU defense set a second school record with their eighth shutout this season. Otillio has 6.5 shutouts this season and 62 saves.
Otillio had five saves for LSU. Auburn goalie Joell Giger also had five saves. Both teams had eight shots on the afternoon.
LSU travels Tuesday to Thibodaux for a 4 p.m. match against Nicholls State before taking the road for the final two regular-season SEC games of the season. The Tigers face Kentucky on Friday and Vanderbilt on Sunday.