BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team shut out its fourth-consecutive opponent and continued the best start in school history with a 2-0 blanking of Loyola (Md.), on Sunday in the final game of the Tiger Classic II at the LSU Soccer Complex.
“Today’s game was really a tale of two halves because we got totally outplayed in the first half but were able to come out and score in the second half and win,” said LSU head coach George Fotopoulos. “We still thought we had the advantage going into halftime just because the score was still 0-0.”
The Tigers (5-0) are off to their best start in history and have outscored the opposition by a count of 26-1. Freshman forward Stacy Bishop scored her team-leading ninth goal, knocking the ball in the net off of a free kick in the 86th minute to put the Tigers up 1-0. Junior forward Artie Brown scored an unassisted goal in the 88th minute to cap the scoring, her sixth of the season.
Goalkeeper Robyn DesOrmeaux played all 90 minutes in the game, recording her fourth-straight shutout, and tallied five saves. The Carencro, La., native was named the Defensive MVP for the tournament.
“Robyn was there when we needed her today, and we had some other players step up and give our starters a break like Laura Klatter and Kasey Dexter,” said Fotopoulos.
The Tigers improved to 31-4-1 all-time against non-conference teams under Fotopoulos and ran extended their winning streak against non-conference foes to 13 games.
LSU will next face Tulane in New Orleans on Sept. 12 before traveling to Austin, Texas to face the Texas Longhorns on Sept. 14.
LSU (5-0) defeated Loyola (Md.) (1-3), 2-0
LU 0 0
LSU 0 2
Scoring: LSU, Bishop (9) 85:25 (scored on free kick); LSU, Brown (6) 87:28 (unassisted). Yellow cards: LU, Team (Head coach) 15:54
TIGER CLASSIC II ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
GK Toni Deason, McNeese State
D Amanda Tumlinson, McNeese State
D Elizabeth Fesler, McNeese State
D Jess Smith, Birmingham-Southern
F Allie Thrasher, Birmingham-Southern
D Rebecca Barnes, Birmingham-Southern
GK Robyn DesOrmeaux, LSU
D Christina Best, LSU
D Tara Mitnick, LSU
F Stacy Bishop, LSU (Offensive MVP)
D Lindsay Tracey, Loyola (Md.), (Defensive MVP)
M Ashley Kramer, Loyola (Md.)
D Lisa Jaffa, Loyola (Md.)