STARKVILLE, Miss. — Freshman Michelle Makasini‘s game-winning goal on a free kick in the 65th minute of the match lifted the LSU soccer team to its second straight win in the Southeastern Conference by the score of 1-0 over Mississippi State on Friday.
Makasini took the free kick from 20 yards out, after fellow freshman Rachel Yepez was taken down by a Bulldog defender near the top of the box, and ripped a shot that deflected off the near post and into the back of the net for her SEC leading 10th goal of the season.
“It’s great to be able to score goals, but I’m happy that we were able to get a big SEC win on the road more than anything,” Makasini said. “When I’m standing over free kick, I just try to make sure I bend it around the wall as best I can and not hit it over the crossbar. I was able to do that and it hit the post and went in.”
The Tigers (7-4-1, 2-0-1 SEC) improve to 9-2-1 all-time against the Bulldogs (2-8, 1-2 SEC) as junior goalkeeper Valerie Vogler saved three of Mississippi State’s five shots on the night to earn her third shutout of the season and fifth of her LSU career.
“We certainly think that every win in the SEC is huge and winning on the road almost counts double,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “Mississippi State is a very difficult team to play. We can see where Tennessee got caught in a trap here last Sunday, and we’re happy to get out of here with a big win for this team.
“Val played a great game for us in goal once again. She just keeps getting better and better and improving with each game. She’s strong between the posts and plays with a tremendous box presence. She’s catching crosses, commanding on anything floated around the box and is just making some great saves for us.”
The teams went into halftime scoreless with LSU holding a 4-2 edge in total shots with two shots on goal and three corner kicks. The Tigers turned on the offensive pressure in the second half and finished the match with 16 shots, including eight shots on goal, and six corner kicks. Lee said his team took a different approach in the second half to keep the pressure on the Bulldogs.
“We just took a different posture mentally in the second half more than anything else,” Lee said. “We just said, ?Let’s get at them and start putting some offensive pressure on them.’ After we got the first goal, I thought we were really unlucky not to get the second and put the game out of reach. We got unlucky on three or four breakaways and their keeper played great.”
The Tigers look to extend their unbeaten streak to six games when they travel to Oxford, Miss., on Sunday to take on SEC Western Division rival Ole Miss at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium in a match scheduled for 1 p.m. The teams will battle for Western Division supremacy after the Rebels’ 2-0 win over Arkansas on Friday.