LAFAYETTE, La. — The LSU soccer team continued their impressive streak against in-state competition by shutting out the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns 4-0 on Friday evening at Cajun Field.
“It was a solid performance for us to come back after losing such a heartbreaker to Texas because we needed some confidence,” said LSU head coach George Fotopolous. “I thought Artie Brown’s spark in the first half, getting two goals, was a real uplift. We had a couple of players that were really not playing their best soccer and Artie Brown was able to step it up for us and get those in.”
The Tigers (6-1-1) continued the program’s best start in school history by recording their fifth shutout of the season and have now outscored the opposition 34-6 through the first eight games.
LSU moved their all-time record against UL-Lafayette to 4-0 in posting their fourth-straight shutout against the Cajuns.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead at the 37:28 mark of the first half as junior forward Artie Brown took a pass from Rachel Cohen and snuck the ball past UL-Lafayette goalkeeper Anna Brannon into the left corner of the net. Cohen’s assist was the 20th of her career, moving her into first place all-time in school history in career assists past former teammate Ashley Mitnick.
Brown put the Tigers up by two with her second goal of the half, weaving her way past the Cajun defense for nearly 45 yards down the left side of the field for an unassisted score with 26:25 remaining in the first half. LSU out-shot the Cajuns 9-3 in the first half and had six shots on goal to UL-Lafayette’s two.
Cohen struck for her second goal of the season with 40:09 left in the game to put the Tigers up 3-0 on an assist from Brown. Junior midfielder Danielle Keath scored her first goal of the season with 7:02 left in the match on an assist from Christine Haman to put LSU up 4-0.
The Cajuns’ Lindsay Webb nearly ended LSU’s bid for a shutout when she hit the top bard on a free kick with under four minutes left in the match, UL-Lafayette’s only true scoring chance all night.
LSU out-shot the Cajuns 21-9 and finished with a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal.
The Tigers improved to 16-0-2 against in-state competition under Fotopoulos and are now 32-4-3 against non-conference teams since Fotopoulos’ arrival in 2000.
The Tigers will travel to Hammond, La., on Sunday to face Southeastern Louisiana. LSU is 3-1 all-time against the Lions.