ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — The LSU soccer team saw its season come to an end Thursday with a 2-0 shutout at the hands of the 16th-ranked and No. 1 seed Tennessee Lady Volunteers in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
The Tigers (8-10-2, 3-7-1 SEC) end the first season of the Brian Lee era by reaching the first round of the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2002, while the Lady Vols (13-5-1, 10-1 SEC) advance to Friday’s semifinals against either No. 4 Vanderbilt or No. 5 Georgia in a match scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST.
“Tennessee is a great team and they played very well tonight,” Lee said. “They should have much success as they move forward into the NCAA Tournament. I am proud of the way our kids competed against such a quality team. They never gave up and stayed committed throughout the match. We just came up short in the end.”
Freshman forward Kylee Rossi scored the first goal of the match for Tennessee in the 32nd minute of the first half when she ripped a one-timer inside the right post off of a long service over the LSU defense by senior defender Talia Wright. Junior midfielder Ali Christoph was also credited with an assist on Rossi’s team-leading seventh goal of the season.
The Lady Vols carried their 1-0 lead into the locker room by limiting the Tigers to just one shot and no corner kicks in the first half, while attempting four shots, including one shot on goal, and one corner kick of their own.
“We changed our formation to push more players forward after we gave up the goal,” Lee said. “In the first half, even though we had only one shot, we thought we created the best chance of the half five minutes in when we were inside the box uncontested. We were really playing well, we just tried to push more players forward to try to score.”
Freshman midfielder Veronique Maranda pushed the Tennessee lead to 2-0 at the 67:48 mark of the second half when sophomore forward Genna Gorman centered a pass from the end line and Maranda ripped a shot passed a diving Jackie Moseley from 12 yards out for her second goal of the season.
The Tigers finished the match with six total shots, including two shots on goal, and just one corner kick, while the Lady Vols attempted 14 shots with eight shots on goal and five corner kicks. Each team committed eight fouls and one yellow card was issued in a match that was well-played from the start.
Despite the loss, Lee said he is proud of the way his team competed this season and believes what it was able to accomplish will build a solid foundation for the program and lead to even more success in the future. LSU ends the season with the most wins in SEC play since 2000 and with only five seniors on the roster, Lee said he is excited about the team’s potential in 2006.
“We’re very proud of our seniors,” Lee said. “We tried to be realistic with our goals for the year, and we wanted them to be a part of what’s a really great future with LSU soccer. The first step in that was making the SEC Tournament this year.
“Now they can look back for the rest of their lives as we win SEC Championships in the future and do great things on the field and know that they were a big part in making that happen.”