BATON ROUGE — The LSU Soccer team came up short against No. 25 Florida Friday night at the LSU Soccer Complex, 2-1.
“It was a really exciting game,” said LSU co-head coach Danielle Fotopoulos. “The Gators came out and played hard. I think we played hard and we had our opportunities. It came down to the finishing factor. Our defense played hard. Valerie Vogler came with some big saves for us. It was a great game all around.”
With the loss, LSU (6-10-1, 1-7-1 SEC) is now on a five game skid, and is now 0-6-1 all-time against Florida (11-3-3, 5-2-2 SEC). The Tigers were out shot by Florida 22-10, with Florida getting eight shots on goal while LSU only had six.
The first goal of the game came in the 37th minute when KeLeigh Hudson of Florida knocked one in from 18 yards out past Tiger goalkeeper Valerie Vogler. The LSU defense would hold the Gators scoreless for the rest of the first half, but the Tigers were unable to get any goals in the first half and Florida would take a 1-0 halftime lead.
Hudson would score again in the 71st when she would get the pass from Cherry Pickman and slip the ball past the Tiger goalkeeper.
The Tigers would get on the board in the 81st minute when Artie Brown would knock in the rebound from the Stacy Bishop shot. The goal is Brown’s tenth of the season and 36th of her career tying the career goals record held by Jackie Cooper. With the goal Brown also scored her 82nd point of her career which ties the career points record also held by Cooper.
“It was exciting to see Artie Brown tie the most goals and points of anyone at LSU,” said Fotopoulos. “Stacy Bishop had an awesome shot and Artie was at the right place at the right time. She did what she needed to do to put it in the back of the net. It got our momentum going again. It was really exciting.”
The Tigers would be unable to get the equalizing goal despite outstanding shots by sophomore Stacy Bishop, who led the Tigers in shots with five.
The Tigers will be back in action Sunday as they will take on South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. at noon CST.
Florida (11-3-3, 5-2-2 SEC) defeated LSU (6-10-1, 1-7-1 SEC), 2-1
UA 1 1-2
LSU 0 1-1
Scoring: Florida, Hudson (3) (unassisted) 36:35, Hudson (4) (assist Pickman) 70:44
LSU, Brown (9) (assist Bishop) 80:42
Attendance: 730