BATON ROUGE — The LSU Soccer team came up short against Vanderbilt in double overtime at the LSU Soccer Complex Sunday in front of the third largest crowd in school history, 2-1.
LSU (5-5-0, 0-2 SEC) has dropped two straight games in SEC play; while Vanderbilt (2-5-1, 1-1 SEC) finished the weekend with their first SEC win. Shots in the game were almost even as LSU out shot Vanderbilt 16-15.
“I just felt this game came down to lack of discipline in the back,” said LSU co-head coach George Fotopoulos. “I thought we gave up two soft goals, and until we start doing a better job defensively, especially in one versus one situations, its is going to be difficult for us to win in this league.”
The first goal of the game came in the 31st minute as Megan Habig of Vanderbilt took the corner from Lea Lafield and headed it into the goal. The Tigers would hold the Commodores scoreless for the rest of regulation.
The Tigers would get a goal in the 67th minute as Artie Brown lobbed the ball over the Vanderbilt goalkeeper into the goal. Marie Hastings was credited with an assist on the goal.
“Vanderbilt games used to be blow outs, and now they are nail biting games to the very end,” said Fotopoulos. It is definitely pleasing to know that we are competing and we just have to do a better job. We need everyone to come to play, and today we didn’t have everybody.
The first overtime would go without a goal, but the Tigers would put a lot of pressure on the Vanderbilt keeper as senior Artie Brown and sophomore Stacy Bishop would both make runs. In the second overtime Bishop would have to come out of the game after taking a hit from a Vanderbilt player, and just as the clock got under a minute Habig would strike again.
“I thought having to pull out Bishop late in the game made a big difference for us,” said Fotopoulos. “Obviously that is disappointing, but you learn from it and you move on.”
The attendance for the game was 877 as the Tiger fans made a presence during the entire game.
The Tigers will continue action this weekend on the road as they will travel to Ole Miss on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. and Mississippi State on Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.
Vanderbilt (2-5-1, 1-1 SEC) defeated LSU (5-5-0, 0-2 SEC), 2-1 (2OT)
VU 1 0 0 1 – 2
LSU 0 1 0 0- 1
Scoring: Vanderbilt, Habig (1) (assist Lafield) 30:48, Habig (2) (unassisted) 109:02
LSU, Brown (7) (assist Hastings) 66:47
Yellow Cards: Vanderbilt, Monica Buff (1) 2:05, Head Coach Ronnie Coveleskie-Hill (1) 99:45, Kelci Hegg (1) 106:23
Attendance: 877