BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team used four goals from Mandy Heintz and a two-goal performance from Stephanie Keating to defeat Troy State, 7-0, here at the LSU Soccer Complex on Sunday.
With the victory, LSU recorded its sixth-consecutive win and remained undefeated at home during the 2002 season. The Tigers have severely outplayed their opponents at the LSU Soccer Complex and have outscored the opposition 27-0. During its four home games, LSU has outshot its opponents 157-14 and has only allowed five shots on goal.
“I’m pleased with how we’re playing right now,” said LSU head coach George Fotopoulos. “Last year at this time we were struggling to win games, but this year we’re dominating. I just think that we’re playing focused soccer right now and obviously I’m happy. It’s always good to win 7-0, but we know that come October, there aren’t going to be any 7-0 games in the SEC.”
LSU’s Heintz opened up the scoring spree with back-to-back goals at 7:46 and 24:19 in Sunday’s contest. Her first goal was headed into the net off of a free-kick delivery from Keating and proved to be the game-winning goal. It was Heintz’ sixth game-winning goal of the season.
The Tigers’ junior from San Antonio, Texas, proceeded to score two more goals in the second half of play at both 47:39 and 62:44. Heintz’ four-goal performance was her second hat trick of the season and moved her into second place on LSU’s all-time scoring list for one season.
By scoring her 15th goal of the year, she moved into a tie for second place with LSU’s 2000 Offensive Most Valuable Player Kara Dean. The former Tiger great, Jackie Cooper, holds the all-time record with 25 goals in a season.
She accomplished the feat in 1996.
“It feels really good,” said Heintz, the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer. “We’re on a really big winning streak and just hope that we can carry this over into SEC play. We’re playing really well as a team and I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates. They support me 100 percent and I know that I couldn’t score as many goals if they weren’t setting me up all the time.”
LSU (7-1) recorded its fifth-consecutive shutout on Sunday and its fourth-straight at the LSU Soccer Complex. The 2002 version of the Tigers accomplished each of those feats for the first time in LSU history. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 34-2 and have already scored more goals this season than they did in 2001. LSU finished last season with 33 total goals.
Troy State (1-6) lost its sixth-consecutive contest on the season and its third road match. The Trojans’ lone win came against Spring Hill, 4-0, in their season opener.
“We’re winning the games that we should be winning and we’re doing it in class fashion,” Fotopoulos said. “The defense is playing well, the offense is scoring goals and I can’t be more pleased because it is a total team effort. That’s a big thing for me is that we want to win every game with a team effort.”
Keating, the Tigers’ speedy midfielder, added two goals against Troy State on Sunday. The junior transfer from the University of Florida, knocked in scores at 42:16 and 68:46. She also recorded an assist, totaling five points on the afternoon.
“I’m very pleased with how we’ve been playing as a team,” said Keating. “I’m not supposed to be our main goal-scorer, because Mandy (Heintz) is, but it feels good to get the opportunity to score every now and then. Whether it be with a goal or an assist, I just try to do whatever I can to help the team out.”
LSU’s Suzanne Drake scored the fourth goal of the contest at the 44:05 mark in the game. She headed a corner kick from Elizabeth Marschall past Troy State’s keeper to earn her fourth goal of the season. The assist was Marschall’s fourth of the 2002 campaign.
The LSU soccer team will next be in action on Friday, Sept. 27, against the Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs at the LSU Soccer Complex. It will be the Tigers’ only game of the weekend, because Sunday’s game against University of Mobile was cancelled due to travel restrictions.
LSU (7-1) def. Troy State (1-6), 7-0
Troy State 0 0 – 0
LSU 4 3 – 7
Scoring: LSU, Heintz (12) 7:46 (assist Keating), Heintz (13) 24:19 (assist T. Mitnick), Keating (4) 42:16 (unassisted), Drake (4) 44:05 (assist Marscall), Heintz (14) 47:39 (assist Cohen), Heintz (15) 62:44 (assist Brown), Keating (5) 68:46 (assists Keath, Cohen).
Yellow Card: Troy State, Lynn Rankin 22:27.