KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The LSU soccer team fell to the 16th-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers on Sunday, as the Vols scored two early goals in 37 seconds to earn a 3-1 victory at the Tennessee Soccer Complex in Knoxville, Tenn.
“I have to give a lot of credit to the way our girls competed out there today,” said LSU head coach George Fotopoulos. “Tennessee is one of the best teams in the nation right now and we didn’t back down a bit. If we don’t break down on defense for a minute in the first half, we would have been in a position to win.”
At the 83:27 point in the game, Tennessee put the game away by getting a critical goal from Sue Flamini. The Lady Vols’ freshman from Cranford, N.J., gave Tennessee a 3-1 lead on a direct kick from 20-yards out. Flamini’s goal was her sixth of the season.
With the loss, the Tigers dropped to an overall record of 7-6-3 on the season and fell to a Southeastern Conference mark of 1-5-2. Tennessee improved to an 11-4 overall record on Sunday and stretched its winning streak to seven-straight games. The Lady Vols earned their seventh SEC win of the season and upped their conference record to 7-1.
Tennessee jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the Southeastern Conference battle on Sunday as the Lady Vols scored twice in 37 seconds early in the first half.
The Lady Vols’ junior forward, Kim Patrick, opened up the scoring at the 7:04 mark in the game with a five-yard shot that snaked into the bottom-right corner of the net. The goal was Patrick’s 10th of the season and her second of the weekend. She notched her ninth goal of the 2001 campaign in Friday’s 3-1 win over Arkansas.
On the following Tennessee possession, sophomore Marie-Eve Nault gathered a pass from Sharon Holmes and rifled a shot into the top-right corner of the net from 20-yards out. The goal at 7:41 gave the Lady Vols a 2-0 lead and was Nault’s second of the season. The score was also her second of the weekend after recording Friday’s game-winning goal.
The Tigers’ lone goal of the contest came at 78:22 when Artie Brown collected an errant Tennessee pass and motored down the field to cut the Lady Vols lead to 2-1. Brown, LSU’s highly-touted freshman from University High School in Baton Rouge, notched her seventh goal of the season on the play. She leads the Tigers in both goals and points (16).
“Artie made a very good play on the goal and she had a good game today,” Fotopoulos said. “She’s probably in the best shape of her life right now and she’s been showing it on the field. Robyn (Desormeaux) also had a great game and made some huge stops for us. Tennessee had a lot of scoring chances, but both Robyn and our back line did an awesome job of stepping up and clearing the ball.”
Despite allowing the two first-half goals on Sunday, the Tigers’ Robyn Desormeaux turned in an outstanding performance in goal for LSU. She accumulated 10 saves in the contest and was under attack the entire contest as Tennessee reeled off 23 shots.
The Tigers remained winless versus Tennessee and trail in the all-time series, 0-4. Sunday’s loss was LSU’s second of the six-year series at the Tennessee Soccer Complex. In 1998, the Lady Vols defeated LSU, 3-0, on the road in Knoxville, Tenn.
The LSU soccer team will next be in action on Friday, Nov. 2, as the Tigers head to Fayetteville, Ark., to face the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks at 7 p.m.
#16 Tennessee def. LSU, 3-1.
LSU 0 0 – 1
#16 Tennessee 2 1 – 3
Scoring: Tennessee, Patrick 7:04 (assist Laughridge), Nault 7:41 (assist Holmes), Flamini 83:27 (unassisted). LSU, Brown 78:22 (unassisted).
Yellow Cards: LSU, Shelton 83:21.